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The New Zealand Post Primary Teachers' Association / Te Wehengarua (PPTA) professional issues update provides links and ideas for secondary school teachers. This term the topic is engagement, one of the eDscapes conference themes.
eDscapes’ themes are leadership, engagement and professional activism. Join us in Wellington, 18-20 April, next year and hear keynotes from Ben Levin, Judyth Sachs and Christine Richmond.
Christine Richmond is our keynote speaker focusing on engagement. Well known in Australia and NZ for her high energy presentations, her topic: “Engaging Adolescents in Learning: Practical Ideas to Enhance Good Teaching” goes straight to the heart of classroom teachers’ core business. Dr Richmond will also be running workshops at eDscapes.
 Behaviour Management: A Minimalist Approach (Hui Taumata paper - downloads in MS Word)
Transitions through adolescence
Meanwhile, in New Zealand, the PM’s science advisor, Professor Peter Gluckman, has released an interim report on his committee’s research into ‘improving the transition through adolescence.’ One of Gluckman’s aims is to encourage government to develop evidence-informed policy advice. This would certainly be a wonderful thing – although judging by recent MOE decisions he has his work cut out! Read the interim report:
Improving the transition: reducing social and psychological morbidity during adolescence
Behaviour support on TeachersTV
This site has a whole series of programmes focusing on behaviour and classroom management. TeachersTV always differentiates between primary and secondary needs – a focus that would be welcome in more of the resource development and provision here in Aotearoa. The website is constantly updated and offers some fantastic insights into UK developments, along with rich material for discussion in within your departments and branches:
Teachers TV behaviour hub
Grass Kart challenge
These kinds of co-curricular activities promote engagement with technology and a bunch of the key competencies, as well as encouraging students to follow vocational pathways into apprenticeships and training.
Southland Otago Grass Kart Challenge
Students as teachers – improve engagement and achievement
Notions of inclusion using student voice are all well and good, but what might that really look like in relation to engagement for learning? Have you ever considered the idea of ‘lead learners’? This school developed lead learners as part of their strategy to improve achievement, in the process moving their school’s GCSE results from the bottom five to the top 25% in the country.
Lead learners on Teachers TV (video)
Discussion frames for engagement
Here are a couple of discussion frames you can use for branch and other staff conversations.
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