Last day in NZ

Today was my last full day in New Zealand. I leave tomorrow morning at 6:40 am Friday NZ time which is 11:40 am Friday Manitoba time. I get in to Winnipeg around 4:00 pm on Saturday. That will be a long trip.

I thought it appropriate to take some time to do some general reflections on lessons learned. I will separate them into thoughts about New Zealand as a whole and then about their education specifically.

The simplest thing that I can say about the country is that both it and its people are amazing. It is certainly one of the most scenic places that I have ever seen. Other spots that I have visited have had elements of what I have experienced here...but this country seems to have it all.  Large mountains rising from the blue green sea contrast with harsh desert landscapes in the interior. They have volcanic peaks and flatlands. There are rock canyons and soft, rolling valleys.

The people are incredibly friendly, going far beyond what is necessary to make you feel comfortable and welcome. Even though there are differences in what you encounter in different regions, the general approach is consistent. These are really good people who seem to share similar approaches to life and similar values.  Peter Jackson stated it well, saying that "New Zealand is not a small country but a large village".

As far as the education system goes, I am not surprised that New Zealand consistently ranks among the world’s best. They do an excellent job making student achievement a priority, and they have several things built into their system to enable this to happen. Everyone seems so focused on using data to inform decisions about education…from the classroom teachers, school principals, regional support people, to Ministry officials.

That being said, education in New Zealand is not perfect. There is sometimes what appears to be a disconnect between what the Ministry tell us and how it is reflected at a school level. The education department speaks of their standards and expectations as being very well received while many educators suggest they are cumbersome and narrowing.  

While they have made great strides in Maori education, there is still a significant disparity in terms our educational equity.  People from all levels of education are consistent in acknowledging that their is significant work to do for their indigenous people. I am very interested in seeing what we learn on December 3^rd, when the next set of PISA results are released. In the previous results, New Zealand’s education system was rated to have high quality but low equity.

Despite the challenges, New Zealand is certainly focused on improvement. The scholarly approach that educators take is exemplary.  I have heard more people reference Michael Fullan in regular conversation over the past two weeks than I have in Canada the past two years. The irony is that he is Canadian. Regrettably, Rob Ford is also Canadian...and he has been a regular news story even here., talking the heat off the Mayor of Auckland who has had some recent bad press as well.

As I write this blog entry, I am sitting in a hotel room close to the Wellington airport. I flew here from Auckland this afternoon to get ready for my morning flight. In the background, I am watching the Womens’ Netball Challenge 2013. It's the opening ceremony and they are doing a Maori haka as part of it. Among the performers are students from the Auckland Girls’ Grammar School. Two weeks ago I knew little about either netball or the haka. Now I am even starting to get interested in rugby…especially the All Blacks

The next day two days will be travel days. So that’s it for me from New Zealand…see you back in the Prairies.

Mountain climbers, gardens, and fish trap houses

Today we went to the Ministry office to meet with our guides for the day. Following this, we split up and headed off for school visits. The people at this regional office has gone out of their way to make us feel welcome and to give us a tremendous perspective on education in their area.

First I went to Edmund Hillary School in Papakura, a suburb about 30 minutes south of Auckland. The school is named after the famous explorer who first reached the summit of Mount Everest. The principal of the school reflected on the extreme challenges that she has faced since taking over seven years ago.  She said that in the beginning of her appointment the school was one of the lowest achieving in the entire country.

The school is a Decile 1 school located in a very low socioeconomic area. The principal stated that only one student in the school lived in a home that was owned by the family. She also indicated that there were serious crime issues in her area including gang violence. It was her perspective that having a good school in the community was the key to changing the culture there. She said that she was saddened by the tragedy caused by her students having a poor education.

The priority areas at Edmund Hillary over the past few years have included improving staff and making the school a safe place.  She said that there was initially annual transition of staff but now it is stable, with teachers who have passion and who appreciate the collective vision for improvement. She stated that the school now is much more level, headed towards normal but striving for excellence.

The principal was particularly proud of their school garden which was planted and cared for by students. When they initially began the program, community members told her it was a bad idea because people would steal things from it. She said they did not have to steal things because the garden was for them. They could take whatever they wanted. Recently, the program has expanded to people’s backyards with students working with their own families to grow food for themselves and their neighbours.

Next we visited Western Spring Collegiate, a large high school with over 1300 students. It was a Decile 10 school that was nationally recognized as one of the leaders in Maori secondary education. When we arrived at the school, the Grade 9 – 12 Maori students greeted us in their sacred building and performed a traditional welcome for us. We again had to respond with a song which we performed better than previously. After this I met with groups of Grade 9 students and then four upcoming grads to discuss their school experiences. One young lady with whom I spoke had just received a $35 000 scholarship awarded for Maori student excellence. She was the first person in her school to receive such an award.

By mid-afternoon, we were back at the Ministry office. We met with Carol Stoney, the regional manager for school professional development. We learned that the Ministry has senior advisors that each work with 35-40 schools in the Auckland region. The focus is on those schools that have the highest needs based upon achievement data.

The Ministry develops contracts with independent service providers to deliver the professional development for schools. One such service provider is Evaluation Associates. Their founder Michael Absolum met with us to discuss how his organization works to support schools. He said that they will only work with schools who agree that the partnership will focus on raising student achievement. His organization focuses on shaping and developing teachers as well as encouraging positive change in the learning culture of school.

Our day ended as guests of Mr. Absolum and his wife. We joined them for supper at their new home outside of the city. Their architect helped them to build a house based upon the theme of a fish trap. While it may sound odd, the end result was amazing.

Tomorrow I fly back to Wellington and stay the night prior to my return home on Saturday.

A traditional Maori greeting

This morning we traveled to the Ministry of Education office in Auckland. When we arrived, a man of Maori descent greeted us using by hongi. The hongi is a traditional greeting which involves pressing one's nose and forehead to another person at an encounter. It is used at traditional meetings among Māori people and on major ceremonies and serves a similar purpose to a handshake in western culture. In the hongi, the ha (or breath of life), is exchanged and intermingled. The breath of life can also be interpreted as the sharing of both party's souls.

We then were led into a room where around ten Ministry officials awaited us. We stood directly across from them and they welcomed us in a way than I can only describe as both powerful and humbling.  First, three Maori people sang us a traditional song followed by a blessing in their language. Then the whole group sang us a song. After one of them spoke further, I was invited to acknowledge the greeting and bring thanks on behalf of the Manitoban delegation. This was followed by an invitation to our group to present a song…which led to an impromptu version of `This Land is Our Land`. Then we greeted everyone using the previously described hangi.

Our group then split in two, with each set of us being accompanied by a Ministry representative. We visited Henderson School on the north of Auckland to sit in on a meeting of regional principals focused on professional learning. One of them mentioned how she had visited Canada previously to present at an education conference in Vancouver.  A couple talked about how they would be taking study leave in the new year. This involves them being released for 32 weeks to work on post-graduate study, either working towards a masters or a doctorate. Most impressive was the fact that the Ministry pays their full salary during this sabbatical leave. It is obvious that New Zealand places tremendous value on the education and training of their school leaders.

During the afternoon, we met with a principal of a small Maori immersion school. Interestingly, the visit did not occur at his school but at a large outdoor community sport field. Over 800 students had gathered from regional schools for a large multicultural festival. While we talked to the principal, we watched groups of kids perform dances and songs indigenous to the variety of cultures found in the country.

While driving to and from our destinations, we had the good fortune to be chaperoned by a Ministry official of Maori descent who talked about his own experiences living in a bicultural country. That designation is noteworthy in considering that Canada is a bilingual country. Biculturalism in New Zealand represents the coexistence of their two distinct cultures, the Maori and the European settlers (mainly from Britain).

It is interesting that my first in-depth experiences with Maori culture occurred today in the large city of Auckland. However, the city does include about one quarter of the country`s total population. Also, 96% of all Maori people live in the north island…and 72% of all Maori people live in Auckland.  Auckland is a hub of indigenous people, both those of New Zealand ancestry as well as from the Pacific islands. In fact, there are more Samoans living in Auckland than there are in Samoa!

A day in Rotorua

Our day in Rotorua got off to an odd start. We showed up at the regional office for the Ministry Office for our 9 am meeting. Unfortunately, the person who was supposed to meet with us thought the meeting had been canceled. He also neglected to schedule our school visits in the community. Despite the setback, our day could not have worked out better. The main receptionist at the Ministry took off from her desk and within ten minutes things were back on track. We met quickly with a couple of the education senior advisors from area before leaving for two school visits.

In the morning, we were guests at Malfroy School, an elementary with 352 students of whom 70% were Maori. The enrolment of 352 is noteworthy because that is the specific number the principal quoted to the Ministry official who accompanied us. As I stated in a previous post, students start attending school on the day they turn five. Consequently, the school nominal roll may change at any time. Given that schools are funded based upon how many students attend, this particular principal wanted to make sure that the Ministry knew the exact number of kids in his building.

Malfroy is a dual track school with both English and Rumataki (Maori) sections. It is ranked as a Decile 3 school which reflects its students’ low socioeconomic status. Of the 352 enrolled, over 140 are on special education or alternate programs. The principal spoke very highly of the efforts of his staff, telling us that his teachers are “real magicians” in managing the diverse needs of their students.

There were several unique programs at Malfroy, including Roots of Empathy, which exists in Park West School Division as well.  Like most schools in my own division, the main focus was on literacy and numeracy. They are also one of eight schools in New Zealand to be designated as ``cornerstone schools`. The Cornerstone Values symbolizes a school’s commitment to the building of character through teaching, advocating and modelling honesty and truthfulness, kindness, consideration and concern for others, compassion, obedience, responsibility, respect and duty.

The principal of Malfroy indicated that he spends an average of five hours per week studying and analyzing his student achievement data and talking to teachers about what this data means. This is further evidence of the trend for New Zealand school leaders to be extremely data driven.

Our visit at Malfroy ended when the early years Maori immersion students performed a song for us. When we asked if they might sing, the teacher said ``absolutely`` before reaching in her closet for her guitar. In a class of twenty, there were two sets of twins and one set of triplets.

During the afternoon, we went to the nearby Rotorua Girls High School (RGHS), one of 24 female only schools in New Zealand. RGHS is another Decile 3 school with over 600 students of which 75% are Maori.  As I entered the main office, I was struck by the numerous displays celebrating student academic and extracurricular achievement. There was a hall of fame of sorts for each year with full page overviews for multiple students.  As the principal led us through the school, we encountered a TV reporter and cameraman who just finished doing a story acknowledging the recent success with Maori student graduation rates. The focus of the story was on a group of girls who were about to complete high school despite some serious academic and personal challenges.

RGHS has a performing arts department. We were treated to a group of students who sang several songs for us including a traditional Haka. The Haka is a traditional war cry, dance, or challenge. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment.  The New Zealand national rugby teams practice of performing a Haka before their matches has made the dance more widely known around the world.

The school also has a large emphasis on technology. I spent some time talking with their two ICT teacher leaders about the school’s programs and approaches to instruction. They proudly noted that RGHS had a 1:2 student to device ratio which meant there were over 300 computers in the school. They also have a Bring Your Own Device policy which allows students to access the Internet and learn using their own laptops, tablets, and smart phones. I learned of the national plan to bring ultra-fast broadband connectivity, using a fibre backbone, to 75% of the country by 2016. The government is funding 80% of the infrastructure costs and allowing schools to access future capital budgets to cover the remainder.

The principal of RGHS was retiring next month after an amazing 50 years in education.  She actually attended as a student in the 1960`s. Several of her staff remarked how she was still extremely passionate about her students and education. A few with whom I spoke stated that they had never worked with an administrator so focused on using data to improve outcomes for students.

We arrived in Auckland just after supper. I drove one of our vehicles for three hour trip. While I am much more comfortable with the right-hand drive, left side of the road thing…it still feels completely and utterly wrong.  Everything is opposite. You get in, reach for the seat belt on the wrong side, put the car in gear on the wrong side, and drive off on the wrong side. I am getting better at signaling rather than turning the wipers on and off.

We are staying at a place called Latitude 7 Apartments which is right down in the heart of the city by the waterfront. This is a big and bustling place with over a million people. I expect that it will be an interesting few days working and learning in and around this city.

Today was Guy Hawkes day in New Zealand. On the 5th of November, 1605, a group of men attempted to carry out the 'gunpowder plot', a failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James the First. The man who was to light the barrels of gunpowder was named Guy Fawkes. The plan was discovered, however, when one of the conspirators sent a letter to his cousin warning him not to visit the Houses of Parliament. Fawkes was then caught just before lighting the fuse to the 36 barrels of gunpowder; enough evidence to lead to his conviction and execution. Today, the plot continues to be remembered through the use of fireworks, bonfire parties and general celebrations, observed primarily in England, but also in places such as New Zealand. Four hundred years on, Guy Fawkes Day or Bonfire Night is really an excuse to have a firecracker of a party!  As I drifted off to sleep I could hear fireworks.

The Desert Road

This morning began with a visit to the rental agency to pick up our vehicles. I was excited because it was the first day that I was scheduled to drive. It was a great experience, both the right side steering and the scenery.  Even better, I turned right into the wrong lane just once. The two vehicles that I met were gracious…with only horns and no obvious hand gestures. The only other real issue was the fact that I turned the wipers on frequently when I was attempting to signal.

We travelled up the west coast of the North Island into the interior of the country. The changing landscape during the four hour trip was remarkable.  We started with mountains rising from ocean and then moved into rolling green farmland. Then we passed through an area which resembled a scaled down version of the Grand Canyon before arriving in what looked like the Badlands of South Dakota.  The one difference was the three large volcanoes that we passed as we crossed the appropriately named Desert Road. One of these volcanoes, Mount Tongariro, is pictured below.

New Zealand has 20 mountains over 10 000 feet, the tallest of which is Mount Cook in the South Island at 12 316 feet. We learned later that a few schools in the vicinity of these interior volcanic mountains have permafrost for three months of the year. That wasn’t surprising given what we saw today. It was about 21 Celsius as we drove along the highway, yet the mountain tops were snow covered.

The afternoon began with a brief visit at a school in the town of Turangi. It included students from Year 1 to 13…so it was equivalent to our K – 12’s back home. One cool feature of this school is one that it shares with many others in New Zealand…its students wear uniforms.

This school also had a large Maori and Pasifika population. The Maori are the main indigenous group in the country. The Pasifika represent all of the people from the various Polynesian islands that come to New Zealand. Most often, the parents come to work in the farms and their children travel with them to attend school.

Later in the afternoon, we visited the REAP office in Tapoa. We met with four of their staff, including their manager, the early years’ programmer, the school program coordinator, and the adult education facilitator. They provided an overview of the services that they provide and the challenges that they face in meeting the needs of the region.

At the end of the day, we drove north to the town of Rotorua which is renowned for its hot springs. During the ride up the highway, we saw a large thermal plant that resembled a nuclear power facility. The most interesting thing was the numerous hot springs that littered the landscape. It was somewhat surreal to see steam rising from pools in fields and in people’s back yards.

We settled into a nice place just on the outskirts of town. The only unfortunate thing was there was no Internet connectivity so I was unable to update my blog, check my email, or connect with home.

Tomorrow morning we will visit schools in Rotorua before heading north to Auckland. I am still really enjoying the trip but I have begun the countdown to getting home. Five more sleeps.

Kayaking to Abel Tasman

Prior to talking about today, I have one postscript from last night. I mentioned that we stayed on a working farm. Well…around 9:00 pm yesterday evening, we were visited by the senior member of the local dog family. Old Tom came in to see what we were doing and promptly crashed on the floor in front of the fire place. He stayed until we were leaving this morning. I was missing my own dog so I was grateful to have an animal snoring at my feet.

Our day started with a 1.5 hour drive north west to a little village called Mouteka. We were outfitted with gear and soon in the water in ocean kayaks. We spent the first bit crossing a 1.5 km open section of the Tasman Bay before moving along nearer the shore.

During our 4.5 km paddle along the coastline, we saw and heard a variety of indigenous birds and visited a small seal colony swimming and sun bathing along the rocks of a small island. One noteworthy highlight was the blue penguin that surfaced and swam not far from us for a short time. These birds are notoriously shy and the one that we spotted was gone before we could remove our cameras and phones from the water proof bags.

The kayak trip ended at a small beach at the base of a hiking trail. Once we bid farewell to our guide, we had a 30 minute hike up and over a mountain to a placed called Anchorage Bay (shown below).

After this adventure, we drove 3.5 hours back to the town of Picton to the ferry terminal. One thing to note for anyone considering travel to New Zealand…if you have a choice in roads, pick the one called “scenic route”. It will be a bit scary in places but some of the things you will see are unbelievable.

Tonight we will spend another night in Wellington after the ferry ride across Cook Strait. We will get to the hotel around 11:00 pm and likely go to bed quickly. We are on the road early tomorrow for a half day drive through the north island with some school visits planned for mid-afternoon.  Tomorrow is Monday, so we are back to work and I will be posting more information related to our educational tour.

Saturday in Nelson

The intent of this blog is to provide an overview of our educational tour to New Zealand. However, it is the weekend now. After several full days of meetings, school visits, and presentations, we resolved to take it easy and do some of the tourist things.

Today, we awoke to sounds of animals and the sight of the sun hitting the green ocean waters below us. We spent the morning in downtown Nelson, checking out a huge weekend market and wandering the streets while visiting the various shops and stores. The way everything is laid out with boutiquey streets running to the base of mountains makes this area feel a lot like Banff, Alberta. I guess it would be more like Banff, if it overlooked a huge ocean bay and if it was always summer there.

The highlight of my morning was the half hour at Starbucks where I found the best Internet connection since I arrived in the country. Everywhere else we have been, the wireless has been spotty or extremely expensive. For the price of a large coffee, I was able to connect with my family through Facetime. Thanks iPhone!

As I type this, I am sitting on a deck overlooking the bay. The temperature down at sea level is close to 20 Celcius. Up here, with the elevation and the ever-present breeze, it is more like a gusty 15 or 16 C. I just watched a small sheep run by…looking for his mother. I think it is the same one that I saw this morning. His anxious bleats seem a bit out of place in such a tranquil setting. The three farm dogs lying nearby enjoying the sun seem to be more in line with the serenity of the day.