Alwyn Poole
Innovative Education Consultants
innovativeeducation.co.nz
Brain science, genuine learning theory, understanding of needed family dynamics and the ability to accurately fund education have all come together to create the most remarkable potential for young people in the history of humanity. This is the best time in history to grow up but adults hold them back through ideology, self-interest and ignorance.
This has never been more accentuated than during the “Covid-crisis”. Our young people should grow up to be incredible with literacy and numeracy, amazing in the arts, amazing physically, able to access knowledge on mental well-being. They should be enabled to stand on the shoulders of all of the generations that have preceded them. They should be on their way to becoming a Da Vinci generation.
I had one good teacher in my high school years. A man called Peter Reid. One comment he made, above others, has stuck with me. “When you have a choice between two things you ought to do … do both.” One huge failure of the current government is that they have put so many things on hold to deal with their perception of the Covid situation. The response is the issue in many areas – not the disease. It has become the Great Distraction for the failure of the government (including their ministries) in all of their domestic portfolios.
The New Zealand education system has been on a long term downward trend against international measures. Added to that we have had a very significant concentration of teaching ability geographically (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch) and demographically (decile 8-10). Only 36% decile 1 students attend school regularly. Over 10,000 students are not enrolled anywhere. Asian school leavers achieve University Entrance at 67% whereas Maori and Pasifika are around 20%.
People talk about the housing and welfare crises as if they are adult problems. How can any young person hope to develop a career and earning options when their education leaves them with nothing to offer an employer? A minimum wage and welfare-dependent lifestyle offers no hope of home ownership or even renting a high quality home.
For a small, wealthy, well-resourced country we should have aspiration. Brain theory tells us how important the first three years are – and yet we have no coherent “parents as first teachers policy”.
Chris Hipkins is a very capable human being. As Minister for Education he has been entirely negligent. The “Opposition” are equally at fault. They have challenged very little and our young people have suffered. The 2021 NCEA results are worse than 2020 and skewed against the lower deciles – but there has been almost no response. All we are doing is confirming that the housing and high value employment problems will continue for at least ten more years.
Immediate interventions are available. Prioritise the funding and staffing incentives for deciles 1-4. The teachers’ unions will hate this but they have shown their irrelevance by doing nothing of use in the last 5 years (least of all protecting their members from mandates).
The number of Ministry of Education employees has grown from 2,800 to near 4,000. If you asked the top 3,000 to go for a one-way cruise (not the 1,000 who deliver on the front lines) – or even go back into teaching – I would personally guarantee no Ministry efficacy loss with a saving of $300 million a year on salaries alone.
Mums and dads around the world have had a better look at what their children are learning through lockdowns. It has not been pretty – but they are not without historic fault. Education is the responsibility of the family first and foremost. Many are now realising that, and it is a good thing for their children and for society.
Young people have spent the last two years watching adults generate fear and ignore the needs of the young. They have watched them label and vilify each other for the stands they have taken.
There has been a 60% increase in self-harm for youth. Education results are going through the floor. It is time for adults – as parents, educators, politicians, business people – to begin to show genuine leadership, resilience and courage. Our young people desperately need it.
Will we come out of this crisis at a new level or just continue the trend down and make excuses? New Zealand should be the leading country for all forms of education and ultimately for macro measures such as per capita GDP and social well-being.
It’s time to get our children and youth out of emergency motels and into careers. It is time for visionaries to bring them out of induced trauma and into great futures.
Alwyn Poole
Innovative Education Consultants