The Challenge.
Most students are agents of their own learning who can confidently express what, why and how they are learning.Indicators:
What are we noticing?Actively listening to our students and allowing time for our teachers to visit other schools has been a great way of making us reflect on what student agency means and looks like at all our different levels.
“The opportunity to choose whether the group we are put in fits with our ability level, it gives us power and control over our learning.” (College student) ”We really like having choices. We get to choose things that suit us. If you are doing something you are not interested in you won’t do it.” (Primary student) “We need to consider how student voice is reflected in the day to day decisions that are made around school - not simply in order to satisfy ourselves that we’ve heard what students have to say, but in more engaged and authentic ways that are about their learning.” (Learner Agency - CORE Education) From talking to our students we know they have great ideas about their learning. This year, as we set up a more formal system to allow all staff to visit other schools, staff will notice engaged students of all ages making some informed and beneficial decisions to enhance their own learning. “That was another example of an executive decision that was made without actually asking the students about it. Because we are the ones being directly impacted by it yet we have no input except on maybe a surface level.” |
What are we doing?As a Kāhui Ako we are committed to keeping the students at the centre of our mahi. This is apparent in the first question the AST’s are asking of schools when meeting with them to discuss their school narratives from 2019.
“What will students tell us has changed by the end of 2020?” We have started discussions around adopting a more UDL approach to learning and some staff in some of our schools have taken these ideas on board and are trying different ways of engaging and working with students. As a part of our work we are investigating a student representative body that fits within our Kāhui structure. We are setting up a system to allow all our teachers the opportunity to take part in visits to other schools within our Kāhui Ako. Students who were interviewed last year expressed a wish to stay part of this process. We will find a way to incorporate these same students as part of our student voice process in Term 3, as well as providing opportunities for other students to have a voice. Our Within School teachers (WIST’S) continue with their individual projects such as:
Some Key Resources |
