Editorial
Ngā mihi o te wā o raumati; tēnei te mihi nui o te tau hou 2024 hoki. 2023 was a big school year. An energetic breath out. No longer operating under New Zealand’s COVID-19 Protection Framework meant that timetables were busy with class outings, interschool activities, and community events. Active relationships between schools and their local communities are evident throughout Issue 3.
He Whakaaro Anō presents “Desettling Science through Partnership” by a tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti authorship team. Sara Tolbert and her school and university colleagues took guidance from mana whenua to develop a unit of learning that centred mātauranga Māori o te ao tūroa—Māori knowledge about the natural world. Readers are taken through the relational process of development, as well as the unit’s lesson content. The article illustrates how non-Māori teachers can uphold mana ōrite mō mātauranga Māori without positioning themselves as knowledge holders. The article follows on nicely from Holly Bodman’s (2023) inquiry into decolonising social studies, presented in the previous issue of Set.
Deepa Goswami explores the intersection between environmental literacy and food citizenship. Food waste literacy, a concept developed within her PhD, is close to Deepa’s heart as a longtime secondary school teacher in India and a sustainability community educator in New Zealand. As with Tolbert et al.’s article, readers are guided through a lesson sequence. Close attention is paid to what students learnt and how it influenced their future behavior.
A rather different type of literacy is the focus of the next article by Melissa Martin. Mel considers the emotional literacy of primary school principals. Her study interviewed school leaders about how each had enhanced school culture by honing their own emotional literacy and priotising the development of staffs’. Tending to the emotional climate of their schools became pertinent for navigating COVID-19, as it will be for managing ongoing change in the education sector.
He Rangahau Whakarāpopoto summarises research and literature related to unplugged computational thinking for digital technologies. Computational thinking is a relatively new area of the Technology learning area within The New Zealand Curriculum aimed at students being creators not just users of digital technology. Kate Rhodes and Melinda Dixon argue that computational thinking is about everyday problem-solving skills. They draw from practice to outline learning activities for students and tips for teachers. Teachers interested in computational thinking might also wish to read two earlier Set articles: one is by Megan Clune (2019); the other is an interview between myself and Tim Bell (2016), a founder of csunplugged.org.
A pair of articles about Hui Taurima, a place-responsive curriculum initiative in Nelson, is written by teacher Jane Townsend and associate professor Mike Brown. Staff at Nayland College and Broadgreen Intermediate worked alongside mana whenua Ngāti Koata, community experts, and senior Māori students, within what became a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative project. At its heart was a multiday learning festival for Year 9 students, with time spent on the local marae, visiting significant sites, and out at sea. The first article explains the set up and teachers’ perspectives. The second article explores learning opportunities and outcomes through the eyes of the Māori student leaders.
The Practioner Inquiry section is rounded off by the final article in a Set series by Trevor Bills and the principals of Pasific Advance Secondary School (PASS) in Ōtāhuhu. The article examines the school’s Tū Tangata programme to demonstrate what a culturally embedded approach to physical and mental wellbeing looks like for Pacific students. The earlier articles in the series explain how Fa’a Pasifika is woven throughout the school (Bills and Enari, 2023) and how school, church, and family are de-siloed (Bills et al., 2022) so that Pacific students can academically achieve authentically as Pacific.
In Assessment News Charles Darr encourages students to approach assessment as problem-solvers and summons their “Systems 2 thinking”. Rather than relying on an intuitive answer, students should get into the habit of interrogating their initial response or representing their working another way, perhaps visually or by utilising a different strategy. Teachers who understand human psychology can help students avoid common test pitfalls.
Thank you to our contributors and readers of Issue 3. We appreciate everybody who made the time to engage with Set during such a hectic 2023. It will help to keep breathing deep and stay connected with our communities as we find out what the new government’s priorities might mean for schools throughout 2024.
Josie Roberts
Set Editor (Tauiwi)
References
Bell, T., & Roberts, J. (2016). Computational thinking is more about humans than computers. Set: Research Information for Teachers, (1), 3–7. https://doi.org/10.18296/set.0030
Bills, T., Enari, A. F., Enari, P., & Tupua-Siliva, D. (2022). The realization of Pasifika success when schools de-silo Pacific students’ lives: “Pasifika mo Pasifika.” Set: Research Information for Teachers, (2), 2–8. https://doi.org/10.18296/set.1504
Bills, T., Enari, A. F. (2023). Fa’a Pasifika: Moving beyond culturally sustaining education Set: Research Information for Teachers, (2), 34–40. https://doi.org/10.18296/set.1532
Bodman, H. (2023). Becoming an ally: Decolonising a New Zealand classroom. Set: Research Information for Teachers, (2), 26–33. https://doi.org/10.18296/set.1531
Clune, M. (2019). Computational thinking in primary mathematics. Set: Research Information for Teachers, (3), 43–50. https://doi.org/10.18296/set.0151