Yong-Zhao: Leading the
way in education –
instead of following the failing neo liberal
agenda
National Standards educating students for the wrong century! |
(American educationalist Yong -Zhao has recently been in NZ at the invitation
of the NZEI. The following are ideas from his recent book with a few added
comments with reference to New Zealand).)
( My main audience for this blog are creative NZ principals and teachers - be great if readers in New Zealand could pass on this blog to as many supportive principals and teachers as possible if we are to protect creative teaching from the compliance culture of the current government .)
Auckland Herald article on Yong Zhao
'Education in
America is at a crossroads....while China is busy trying to transform its test orientated education into a
talent orientated system’, writes Chinese born but now a respected American
educator, Yong- Zhao, ‘America is moving towards a standardized test driven
culture’.
Why right wing
politicians in New Zealand would want to follow the failing neo-liberal agenda
of the USA is more to do with politics than education.
In America they have the No Child Left Behind testing programmes based around literacy and
numeracy and in New Zealand we have National
Standards.
Why we follow the failing approaches of the USA, the UK and Australia when we could be leading the world into developing a system that focuses on developing the talents and gifts of all students shows a lack of direction by those who profess to lead our schools. Schools cannot just be simply against such standards, which
increasingly sound like whinging, they need to be leading by articulating a
creative alternative.
Encourage risk taking not complince |
To thrive in rapidly
changing world countries like New Zealand needs to cultivate a diversity of
talents of all citizens if we really want to be seen as an innovative country.
Cultivating this student creativity and imagination is one thing our New
Zealand schools have never done with the exception of a few creative teachers.
Yong- Zhao, in his
book ‘Catching up by Leading’, points
out the damage being created by the American NCLB, and even more strongly,
writes that schools that comply ‘are actually undermining their strengths by
overemphasizing high-stakes testing and standardisation’.
There are lessons we
can learn from America (and the UK and Australia) – of what not to do! Particularly
as we rate higher in international testing than such countries.
We need to lead
rather than follow.
In America the NCLB has resulted in school teaching to the
test and the reduction of time for subjects not tested. As well teachers, to
score well, have changed their instructional focus and teaching styles. Some
American schools have even resorted to cheating.
Schools in America (and other Western countries who follow
the same neo- liberal agenda) spend valuable teaching time on test preparation
(another form of cheating?). Already schools in New Zealand are, disturbingly,
ensuring their teaching focuses on their ensuring test results are impressive –
and this self- interest can only get worse. In New Zealand the Ministry is ensuring the ‘shonky’ National Standards results show improvements to 'prove' their value.
If schools do not
make a collective stand and present an alternative beyond objecting to National
Standards it will be too late.
The reasoning behind the
NCLB in America resonates to what is happening in New Zealand under this
government.
According to Zong
Zhao it goes like this:
1.
American education is in a crisis.
2.
This crisis is proved by the ‘achievement gap’
(ignoring, of course, poverty issues).
3.
The ‘achievement gap’ results from poor
teaching; teachers who hold low expectations of their students. (John Key said
as much as this prior to the elections). This is not helped by self-interested
teacher unions
4.
Teachers are to be seen as complacent or lazy.
5.
The solution is hold educators accountable for
producing measurable outcomes including publishing of school performance data
thus providing information for parent school choice and the possibility using
performance-based teacher pay.
6.
Standardisation and centralisation of curriculum
and assessment are essential ingredients for obvious reasons.
7.
All students have to be held to the same
standards and need to be assessed by the same tests otherwise it is impossible
to compare how much students have learnt or to distinguish good teachers and
schools from poor ones. Until tests are standardised as in the UK and Australia
results will remain ‘shonky’.
8.
The consequence of such standardised teaching
leads to the homogenisation of student outcomes and a diminishing of student
talents in areas not being tested.
Sounds like National Party thinking!
National Standards
practically define what ‘good ‘education is; they become the default curriculum. A ‘good’
education is defined as a school being able to show good scores in a literacy
and numeracy. Such a ‘good education’ deprives students the opportunity to
develop talents in other areas. In addition children who do not perform well
will be shamed and seen ‘at risk’ doomed to get more of what they cannot do
while their unique gifts are ignored.
Theoretically schools
can teach more than defined by the Standards but in reality schools will ensure
they do well in areas that affect their reputation by focusing on areas that
‘count’.
As a result of such a
narrow agenda schools will produce students with a narrow range of measurable
outcomes.
Yong- Zhao writes
that this approach in America will limit the production of creative and
imaginative individual with a wide range of talents the very people China is
determined to produce!
It is morally wrong, Yong-Zhao writes, ‘to place all
responsibilities on schools and teachers. While schools can definitely do a lot
to help children overcome certain difficulties, their influence has limits.’
Worse still, Zhoa
writes, the NCLB is ‘putting America in danger’….into a deeper crisis ‘because
it is likely to lead increasing distrust of educators, disregard of students’
individual interests, destruction of local autonomy and capacity for
innovation, and disrespect for human values’.
We are well on the
way in New Zealand to follow America
into such a depressing scenario.
Lets focus on the NZC! |
Now is the time for
schools to see the big picture and to collectively present an alternative
vision; a vision implicit in the all but side-lined 2007 New Zealand Curriculum
which sees students as ‘seeking using and creating their own knowledge.’ All it
needs is a greater emphasis on developing the gifts and talents of all
students.
Yong-Zhao believes
'American education is at a crossroads' and 'we need to change course'. 'We
need to move away from focusing on the past and move towards focusing on the
future' We need to leave the test driven
road and move towards the road to innovation and creativity.
New Zealand should be
a leader in developing this new
discourse not a follower.
1 comment:
I really enjoyed listening to Prof Zhao on Monday. I wasn't sure what to expect... but he really hit the nail on the head when it came to describing the standardised education we are being forced to deliver as a "sausage factory". Our kids need to be learning for the future, to create their own jobs - not learning for fifty years ago for jobs that simply don't exist.
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