Telling, Selling, Compelling: Developing Community Engagement in Curriculum [email_address] Rotorua New Zealand February 2009 learning@school Shaping teaching and learning in the 21st century Ko te whenu hou te tau learning@school Shaping teaching and learning in the 21st century Ko te whenu hou te tau

Is there anyone out there? http://www.flickr.com/photos/22406241@N00/786604087/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10816734@N03/3029590673/

What do these two stories have in common? What is your experience?

New curriculum Old paradigm Isnt it time we looked at doing things differently?

Lessons from Rwanda

• Look for the people who are making a difference and use them to act as amplifiers.

• Seth Godin - Tribes

http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/pasifika_education/5907 Effective Engagement of Pasifika According to Lareau (1989), teachers perceive parental involvement as including preparing children with school-ready skills such as alphabet and number knowledge; attending school events and fulfilling requests that teachers make of parents. Family involvement in school life has historically been prescriptive, with parents rarely invited to contribute to what the parent community-school partnership might look like (Valdes, 1996).

If you always do what youve always done

• Einsteins definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

www.flickr.com/photos/26403449@N00/71661420

The Power of the NZC

• It gives schools greater flexibility to design and implement curriculum that is tailored to the learning needs of their students and the expectations of their communities.

• Full engagement with those who have an interest in the outcomes, including the students themselves

Collaborative Engagement - Engaging the Community

• Students learn anywhere, at any time, and from anyone. This has implications for school curriculum design. It means that, as well as teachers, students, families, whanau, and the wider community must be involved in the process of designing curriculum The New Zealand Curriculum assumes that schools will seek out and listen to the ideas and concerns of these different groups.

Your culture?

• Halt - who goes there?

• Come if youre called

• Welcome to our school

• wassup at your place

Research

• Family involvement Family engagement

• Need to see that the community adds value -not just parents

• Trust is essential - both ways - it is an attitude thing - an invisible culture

• Understanding - empathy eg visiting

• Parents self efficacy - they have an effect on their childrens education

• Help parents ask better questions of their children.

Dr Steven M. Constantino http://www.familyfriendlyschools.com/index.asp

Phase One: Leading participation in the design & review of the schools curriculum

• What roles should our teachers, our students, our families, our whanau, and our wider community play in the design and review of the curriculum?

• What vital information can we set out to gather, and how can we use if for curriculum decision making?

Phase 2: Developing processes for involvement and feedback that can be sustained in the longer term What process can we use to stimulate interest in, and get feedback on, our curriculum, its impact, and its relevance? How will we assure students and the community that their feedback is valued and used?

Engaging the disengaged

• Reduce the chances of misinterpretations and misunderstandings. The best of what parents and teachers have to offer to students, to each other, and to their school community will not be fully realized until they learn to talk to each other . . . until they L e arn each other.

Dr Steven Constantino - Engaging all families http://www.familyfriendlyschools.com/index.asp

What are the features of highly effective engagement?

Community Engagement

• Community engagement is any process that involves the public in problem-solving or decision making and uses the public input to make more informed decisions Engaging the community is more than just consulting[it] includes informing, consulting with, involving, collaborating with and empowering the community.

Draft Community Engagement Model for the City of Charles Sturt

• http://voicethread.com/share/361503/

The five levels of engagement discussed on the following slides can be commented on at:

Informing

• A one way relationship of telling

• The school delivers information

• Two types:

• • Passive - information that community can get from you on demand

• • Active - the school is proactive in disseminating information to the community

• Ill decide

Consulting

• A two way relationship - selling

• The community provides feedback to the school

• The school decides what it wants feedback on, gives information and receives information back from the community

• Well discuss - Ill decide

www. wordle .com www.surveymonkey.com

Involving

• Community actively involved in the design of the school curriculum from the beginning

• Developing the new

• Well discuss - Ill decide

• http://www.islandbay.school.nz/

Thanks to Island Bay School

Collaborating

• A relationship based on partnership with the school

• Working together to find solutions

• Well discuss and well decide

Knowledge Cafe

• Real outcome is what you take away in your head

• New connections with people

• A deeper understanding of the issue discussed

• A deeper understanding and insight into other peoples perspectives

• A better appreciation of your own point of view and how it is seen by others

• A better knowledge of what you know and dont know and what others know and dont know

• In a better position to make more informed decisions

• David Gurteen gurteen.com

Use of Personas

• Gather information about your groups

• Create a persona for each of the groups

• Know that within this there will be multiple voices but it gives something to check against

• What would they think about education, what questions would they ask, what would be the best way to engage them?

For further information go to www.designindustry.co.nz

Empowering

• A relationship based on trust between the school and community members

• Community provided with skills, information, authority and resources

• Community actively engaged in the design of the school curriculum

• Well discuss - you decide

Tanias story - Glenbervie School

The community is provided with the skills, information, authority and resources in order to make the final decision The school works together with the community to find solutions, taking into account all the information that leads to an agreed outcome The school includes the community on planning and implementation; or asks how they would like to proceed with something before making a final decision The school asks and listens to the community if they have ideas to improve something; which option they would prefer; or what would happen if we made a certain decision The school tells the community about a decision that has happened; and/or about something that is going to happen and how Adapted from the Draft Community Engagement Model for the City of Charles Sturt Towards co-creation, shared knowledge within a bicultural/multicultural perspective

• Attribution: www.flickr.com/photos/43017881@N00/2475846452

The role of web 2.0 is changing the way in which we engage with communities. Will this backchannel be the next carpark mafia? Some examples

• Some summary ideas:

• Relational Trust is key

• Build on strengths - an appreciative inquiry approach

• Ongoing two way communication

• Facilitating - dialogue - listening

• Empathetic Leadership

Where can I find out more information?

• http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/nzc_resource_bank NZ Curriculum Online

• http://www.familyfriendlyschools.com/index.asp

• http://communityengagement.wetpaint.com/

• (This wiki has been set up especially for these notes and ideas)

• www. thinkbeyond .co. nz (you can also get to the wiki here - click on education tab - engagement

Examples provided

• http://www. fendalton .school.nz/

• http://www. paulsibson .com/

• http: //fendaltonesol . wetpaint .com/

• http: //albanyseniorhigh .school. nz/

• http: //onceuponaschool .org/

• http://aranui4leaders. wordpress .com/

• If you know of any ex-pupils from Aranui High School please direct them to aranui4leaders