People often ask… a guest post

© The Green Eyed Girl 2006

I was asked to write this for Carly at Early Childhood Resources.  She was very patient with me… I took a while to do it.  Carly asked me to write about my teaching… so without further ado…

People often ask me why I became a teacher, but really I don’t think you become one, I think you just are one. Yes it takes training, study and a lot of hard work to become qualified to be one… and then more work, study and training to keep being one, but to me it’s a calling.

I often joke that I only applied for a Bachelor of Education because my boyfriend at the time was studying it. But really, it’s what I wanted to do… and the boyfriend was gone by the time I filled out uni applications.

Teaching is a joy. It is also hard, tiring, stressful, demanding. Yes, we get our fair share of holidays, but really, I wont insult readers by justifying them. It’s obvious that work does not stop when the classroom door is locked and the lights turned off.

Over the years I have worked as a class teacher and as a reading recovery teacher. I have taught Kinder through to Grade Two on a regular basis and worked with children up to Grade 6. I have been in small rural schools with a total of 96 students from Kinder to grade 6, large children’s services, and city schools.

Most days I love what I do. Seeing children learn to read, write, draw… knowing in some small way I helped… it’s a great feeling. Teaching is a partnership with the child and their family. It would be an arrogant and ignorant assumption if I thought I alone taught a child to write their name or read or count.

I have many, many stories, names and faces that have stayed with me over the years. Some so funny I still cry with laughter, some so sad I still cry at the loss. I have had piglets for show and tell, a puppy that came to stay for the day because it was pining for it’s young owner. I have watched a sea of parents faces as their children line danced on stage… and had to explain to Miss Australia that the little one crawling under the mat at her feet was still getting used to the whole sitting still concept. I have had to hold tight to hands and explain that the bad man with the gun will not come and get us after Port Arthur in 1996. I have locked doors and hoped the police get to the parent in the midst of a custody battle heading our way with a firearm. Which they thankfully did. I have been given gifts, had meals cooked… and there are I don’t know how many photos of me sent to children’s relatives in far off countries.

As the years passed I had my own children. Did this change how I taught? Perhaps, just a little. It may have made me a little softer, but it also made me much more aware of just how capable children are given the chance, and the expectation that they can do it!

But to me, really the greatest thing of all has been the lessons I have been taught. They held me in good stead for when my own children came along. I learnt that children have their own agenda, and their own voice, and their very own time frame for doing things… and that really, we are there to nurture them as they travel their own path… it’s a rambling, winding path, it has hidey holes, and wide open spaces, bumps and detours. But it’s a path I love to be on, sometimes leading the way, sometimes being the follower and sometimes walking hand in hand.

Tags: children, it takes a village

I just don’t know… Do you?

I have been thinking a lot lately about schools, and choices of schools. Location, what each one offers, how it is offered, how staff treat students – are they respectful? Do they let students have a voice? Is staff thinking done inside or outside the box? These are the thoughts that fill my mind. These are some of the key things I look for in a school. The uniform makes no difference to me. The outward appearance of buildings is not on my list of things to look at. I care little about NAPLAN results or the MySchool website. So, how do I know a school is the right fit for each of my children?

Next year is the Blue Eyed Boy’s last year of primary school. The search for a high school is beginning to get underway… very slowly. We need to get this right. He needs a school that will allow him to thrive, follow his interests, encourage him to think for himself, solve problems, and help him find his footing in the adult world. It’s a tall order. But one I expect staff to fulfil. I don’t expect them to do it alone, the line that it take a village to raise a child… it’s overused, but it’s true. For the Blue Eyed Boy that village consists of his parents, his sister, his extended family, his friends, the t.v, movies, books, popular culture, the man at the post office, the neighbours, his team mates and cricket coach to name a few… and his teachers.

The Green Eyed Girl will have three more years if primary school after this year. She has, along with her brother been to two other schools due to relocation interstate. But, I have a nagging unease with the school she is at currently. Thinking outside the box? Not much. Real, honest respect for children and their points of view? Not too sure about that… I know lip service in paid. The expectation that children can be autonomous, independent, self reliant learners choosing their own path with guidance and expert help from teachers? Am I asking too much?

Literacy, maths… the basics are covered. But there is so much more to education. So much more. When I think about the amount of technological change that occurs… the amount of information children have at their fingertips it is amazing. My kids think nothing of taking a USB wrist band to school to show the class photos from the weekend on an interactive whiteboard. I took Holly Hobby swap cards. And really, is it that difficult to think of an activity in the school garden other than spreading mulch for a child with hay fever… surely sweeping, weeding, taking cuttings… being the class documenter with the digital camera seems a better option than choosing a friend and heading indoors to just clean out your desk.

I know I sound like one of those difficult to please parents. But really, I am anything but. It’s just when a school continually lacks the willingness to take on new ideas, well researched, well documented research in the field of education with the old ‘we’ve been doing it this way for the past 15 years, no need to change’ adage I begin to wonder if this is the right school for my child. A child that will not be living in the ‘15 years ago good old days’ but in a world that changes and adapts at an alarming rate! A world where people will most likely change career paths and careers more than once. A world where flexibility, imagination, the ability to think on your feet and adapt will be the order of the day, do I need to look at a different school now? Or do I leave her with a safety net of friendship and familiarity? Will the rest of her village make up for the part the school plays?

I just don’t know…

So, dear readers, I’m asking you… what do you look for in a school? What is important to you? Because in our house, we’re at a cross roads…

Post Script -

Ok I should add a few things… our kids have been in both elite private school and the public system.

Also – I am a teacher as are both my sisters, between us we span from the first to the last year of formal education. I attend professional development through out each year, so the research I talk about, way education is heading nationally, I know about. I think for me, this has made the decision process all that much harder. I have an inside view of the schooling system. Not that it is all that much help all the time! Also there has been somewhat of an exodus from the primary school by other families. I have been reluctant to leave because I want to know if we do decide to move our daughter we do it for her, not because other families are. For our son, the choice of high school is less problematic, but still a hard choice.

Also, there are some wonderful staff at the school. Wonderful. But when they are outweighed by negatives… I wonder if it’s worth it.

Image source

Tags: it takes a village, my school website, NAPLAN, never say never

Hump Day Happiness

I know, I know I’ve been absent a long time… life has been happening, as it sometimes does and I have not had time or energy to blog.  I have been working every day, been to Tassie and been unwell. But, I felt it was about time I started hump day happiness again.  Although I’ve been flat out, I have a lot to still be thankful for, a lot that made me smile this past week.  So without further ado here they are.

1.  Going to Tasmania to spend time with my Best Pam.  We have been friends since we were 10.  That’s a long time!  We know each other probably better than we know ourselves.  Best Pam managed to find play dates for both her beautiful children and we managed to wander along Salamanca Market and indulge in a leisurely lunch with wine… with no children.

2. Having the chance to be there as best Pam took her baby girl to her first day of kinder… I can still remember the day that little one was born, and now she is a kinder girl! How did that happen? Being there to see this milestone was an honour.

3. Coming home from Tassie and seeing my own beautiful kids waiting to hug me as I walked in the door.

So, what has made you happy this past week?

Tags: hump day, it takes a village, school

My School – My opinion

Last week the Australian Government launched their new My School site.  The Government stated it will give parents and carers  information on their child’s school, as well as help parents and carers make decisions about which school to choose.  The results that have been published on this site for each public school are linked to NAPLAN testing.  This testing is carried out in grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 looking at the areas of literacy and maths.

My eldest child has taken part in this testing.  My youngest will do so this year.  Before I continue I need to point out I am a teacher.  I have taught from Kinder to grade 2, as well as taking on a role as a reading recovery teacher, and a role working with children on social skills.   My children attend a local government school. They have previously attended a private school.

While I understand parents want to arm themselves with as much information as possible when choosing schools for their children, I have a number of concerns about the way the information has been presented on the My School site.

The site shows each schools NAPLAN test results – so in essence the information in the site relates to literacy and numeracy.  In both primary and high school it relates to only two grade groups.  The results are from tests.  Tests in themselves hold a range of problems.  Testing is not always the best way to determine a child’s ability.

Tests are done in an artificial environment – some children work well to a test, others do not. Some children cope well with the stress of the relatively unknown situation, others do not.  Testing like this does not take into account factors such as (for example) whether or not a child has had a late night, is feeling unwell, has had a change in home circumstances that may be adding to anxiety levels. Tests such as this do not cater well for children that learn best through seeing and hearing someone explain a topic, or for children that will understand a question best through a hands on approach.  Tests such as this do not take into consideration multiple intelligences – that is the different ways people work to demonstrate their knowledge.  For example, some people do well with a written explanation, others do best visually, with diagrams or maps, others do best using concrete materials to solve a problem.

Testing such as this is only a small part of each child’s make up.  It is only a small part of each schools make up.  NAPLAN testing, and therefore the My School site take into consideration these literacy and numeracy results only.  Schools, however, are so much more than this.  Where in this comparison is any reference to The Arts? To Sports? To the way children with additional needs are catered for? Where is the reference to the way the school involves the community through shared partnerships, through the way families are (or are not) welcomed into the school.  Where is the reference to how staff work together? Where does this site show the way a range of cultures, including our own Indigenous cultures are catered for in a real, ongoing rather than tokenistic manner? The site does not reference how much professional development staff at the school participate in each year. Nor does it make reference to whether staff are aware of current policy, research and practice methods.  It does not indicate how behaviour problems are managed.  There is no reference to a change in school leadership, as new senior staff and principals can change the way a school operates.

All these factors, and more, go into making a school.  While literacy and numeracy are vital, so is knowing your child is respected, and that your child’s voice will be heard with in the school.

So, what am I saying in all this?  It would seem to me that the My School site smacks of tokenism.  It has simplified each school to a test score. It does not give a holistic picture of a school – no website ever could.  Schools by their very nature are complex, dynamic, ever changing places. Some schools have a wealth of resources at their fingertips.  Others do not.    Schools are not the sum result of a national testing scheme, and that is what bothers me about this site.

So, while I have looked at the site, and at the results of the school my children attend, I will be looking at these results in the broader picture of the school as a whole.  Taking into consideration local factors, and local knowledge.  I would urge everyone else to do the same.  Because it takes a village to raise a child, not a test result, or a web site.

Tags: children, it takes a village, my school website, NAPLAN, parenting, school