I was sitting in a coffee shop the other day sneaking a quiet cup of coffee by myself when I recognized a lady who walked by.  I wasn’t sure how I knew her.  She was laboring under the weight of many bags of groceries, and she stopped for a rest just outside the coffee shop window.  She sat on a park bench with her groceries around her feet and next to her on the seat. She had the look of someone tired, beaten down, and struggling.

Then I remembered who she was.  I had taught her.  I remembered her, an older woman, one of those students we sometimes call a “second-time learner”.  After lectures I remember she would come up for a quick chat, ask a few questions but I most distinctly remember her for smiling a lot.  I don’t remember picking up any particular signals about her abilities or lack of them until the first assignment was due.   In that particular paper I used to let the first assignment be quite loose – they could be quite creative on how they presented the information and so when I received her draft I was a bit surprised.  It looked like a preschooler had written it.  However, as I say, there was room for creativity in the assignment providing the content was accurate.  But this was something else …..  this was actually reflecting her literacy ability.  And she was trying to do a degree, and I was trying to teach her science. 

This story could be about a lot of things – it could be about formative feedback, diagnosis of learning disabilities in the classroom and various other pedagogical issues around detecting and supporting learning needs in the tertiary environment, but this time I am making this about entry.   This woman did not pass my course, nor did she pass her other courses.  In fact, I have never before issued a student as lower grade or mark as I had to for this student.  Yet still she smiled as I tried to work with her. 

When I think about that smile and how she looked the day I saw her on the park bench I can detect a distinct change.  I think about how proud she was about being on this degree, that she was making her way towards her chosen career path, I can imagine how proud her children were of her, and probably her extended family, I can imagine how difficult it was to find the money to pay the fees, how financially difficult it was to stop her work as a carer so she could pursue fulltime study.  Yet she smiled. 

Of course she failed the programme and could not continue.  I think about the cost of that to her.  The disappointment, the financial burden, the covert message to her children, her own self-esteem and I feel angry that we put her through that.  Entry criteria is not there as a barrier but as a indicator about what skills you need to meet the cognitive and learning needs of the programme of study.  If students do not meet the entry criteria, we need to support their career aspirations by giving them fair and transparent advice on how best to staircase to their desired destination.  It is not about letting people in and giving them a go.  We need to be sure we are not setting them up for failure.  I think sometimes we relatively successful people underestimate what it takes to be a fulltime student, and most of us have no clue what it takes to be a fulltime student who is inadequately prepared for academic study, and most of us have not experienced that sense of utter failure.  It is not fair. Whoever let her into her the programme of study probably thought they were being kind.

That day I know why I didn’t recognize her immediately – she was no longer smiling.

Sometimes things just seem so unfair. When my little daughters used to compete in Irish River-dancing, I can remember one particular occasion where middle daughter gave it her all. She wasn’t being favoured by the judge in this competition but she took it on the chin, and didn’t give up.

She changed her hair style, altered her costume, and as a final resort, re-choreographed her whole dance to the hardest, most complicated hard-sole steps she could muster. She worked in all sorts of flurrys and arm movements, head movements and pointed her little toes as hard as she could. She worked behind the scenes, practicing and performed her utmost. It did no good. I heard a few mumblings from her  “…..she over-crossed her korus ….. leap-beat-beats were crooked … blind judge…” and although I could see her frustration, she held it together.

Littlest daughter however was having a great competition. At the end of the competition the really big winners were called out “Most entertaining” cup ….. went to my littlest daughter. HUGE CUP at least 4 foot tall – bigger than her! WOW! Middle daughter still held it together.

Then it was time to go home. As soon as we were in the van and the doors were shut, she let loose. Anger, frustration, disappointment …. Every emotion the little body could muster. We sympathized, acknowledged the huge effort she put in and explained that sometimes things just don’t go our way. She bore no resentment to her sister for winning one of the big ones, but it did feel that the universe was just being unfair.

Until later that week. We got a note from her school saying that she had been elected by her teachers to attend a function to receive something special, and that this was due to her diligence, character and personality. I couldn’t go, so her granddad took her and when they returned we were bowled over to find that she had been awarded a bike! A brand spanking new two-wheeler complete with helmet and tee-shirt, awarded to hardworking and deserving kids from the Variety Club. Ahh, she was at peace with the universe again. A new bike far out shone a dancing cup or little medal. She had hours of fun on that bike.

Part of our role in education must be about helping to build resilience in our students. Many of them have had many knock backs in life, had trouble learning at school and although they have the will and the motivation, so many things make success more difficult to achieve than for others. In our teaching environment we have to make sure that our students get a sense of how they are doing, are they on the right track, where are their weaknesses, what do they need to improve on and our judging must be fair and transparent.

Students must not be left to try and guess what you need in terms of an assessment, they should not be sitting an assessment with no idea if they are up to it or not, they need guidance and clear, transparent information. We can’t guarantee that everyone will get by due to sheer will of personality – they need to know the rules of the game, be privy to the game plan, and have the confidence to know that their activities and efforts will not be judged based on subjective decision-making but instead will be fair, consistent and transparent.

The world is full of false prophets.  Not those religious types that predict the world’s end, but those that have lots to say about all manner of other things. People have access now to so much information – information that was once locked in books or only a few had access to. To find out about something, you only have to “google it”.

 One of the tell-tale signs of a false prophet is the inability to tell facts from theory.  Of course as a reader, you may not know the difference yourself so you may succumb to the persuasiveness of the writer.  Take H1N1 Influenza A for instance (Swine flu).  I have never heard so many all-knowing everyday people with opinions about something that the real experts are only just getting to grips with.  Yet where would they get their information from?  Mostly, people have an opinion on swine flu based on their own experience – everyone has had flu, they watch the news and if they want to know more, then can google it.  But are they making qualified decisions?  

 The free access to information appears to have created a situation of self-reliance, perhaps reducing the opinion of experts to be just another opinion.  This phenomenon is also evident in education.  Somehow theories become facts dependant on who is presenting them.  Everyone has an opinion on education or teaching.  Like the flu, everyone either went to school or had some experience of education of some sort – feeding their opinions based on their own experiences. There are many false prophets in education.

 How can you tell a false prophet in education? It’s just like the flu – an inability to tell facts from theory. They talk of constructivism, experiential, positivist, differential, accelerated, integral, authentic, e-learning, flexible, discovery, cognitive, behavioural, multiple intelligences, whole brain learning, kinesthetic, blooms, solo, facilitation  …… as if they are facts.  Theories may never become facts.  Evidence and data can lend themselves to supporting theories which may predict outcomes, and theories can provide framework for action, but in the end they are just theories. So, what are facts then?

Normally, for a practicing teacher, facts arise from reflection. Analysing information about what worked and what didn’t and why is of course, useless without further action. A false prophet will deliver a lesson based on learning theories but will not examine the evidence afterwards and learn with the benefit of hindsight. Those are the facts – the outcomes of the lesson. It’s the same for the flu – while experts use knowledge, theories and experience to try and predict what will happen, it is only with the benefit of hindsight that they will know if they were correct or not with their predictions or theories.  In education, experts teachers are continually open-minded and self-correcting, utilising learning theories as frameworks but most importantly, adjusting those theories depending on facts.

In terms of being professional and making decisions – it does strike me as quite odd that teaching is one of the few professions where people deter the most important decisions to committees.  While there is no doubt that teaching is definitely a social-cultural activity and as such, knowledge is validated by the collective, education seems to defer most decisions to the collective.

Why is this? Are educationists afraid of making decisions? Education at its most fundamental should take into account people’s various worldviews, and should have purpose that is meaningful to the stakeholders.  Often, this is articulated especially in the tertiary environment by policy and procedure, which has in term been stipulated by standards or statutes by external quality bodies.  So why do we need more committees – committees that review and re-do, and then more committees such as Academic Boards or Boards of Studies that approve.  If the policies and procedures are based on evidence based research, then what do all the extra bodies achieve?

Are they in place to manage compliance?  That is, to ensure that people are following policy and procedure we have created a bureaucracy to meet it.  Then, somehow the policies and procedures, commonly referred to as “QMS” becomes the motivation force for work, instead of the research based praxis the policy was designed to manage.  Has this system of management become necessary because of lack of professional knowledge that informed the policies and procedures in the first place? 

It seems to me, that the most efficient use of the collectives’ knowledge is to justify, debate and analyse policies and procedures at their inception.  These are the tools that allow practice to be structured to common goals and create opportunities for data collection which can further inform policy revision.  Decision-making then shouldn’t justify more debate for approval.  Quality management should naturally fall within the reflective cycle of teaching where transparent and reflective assessments are made on the praxis and the product of the education session. 

I think this is where the sector is finally going.  It is maturing to realise that people in education should not be afraid of making decisions – should not be afraid of recognizing the different values of praxis or products, and should be brave enough to illicit frank and honest reflection.  This places more emphasis on teachers being more like other professionals – accountable, self-assessing and self-improving, reducing their reliance on hiding behind committees. The next step is teacher registration  …..

When you belong to a particular culture there tends to be certain attributes that you value and want to preserve. These usually include language, ways-of-knowing, particular ways of communicating and common values. You are usually more at ease with people who are within your culture and with whom you share these common values.

I want to tell you what it is like to belong to a culture that appears to be foreign to many. My language is carelessly mispronounced; meanings are distorted sometimes to the point of complete inaccuracy or misrepresentation. Often, you find these inaccuracies perpetuated in textbooks, or worse, taught in schools. There are a lot of preconceptions of what people like me are supposed to value, of what I can do, or how I think, of my capabilities …. of my culture. People sometimes blame the ailments of society on people like me, and those within my culture. I often see stereotypical representations of my community in the movies, and in stories. We are often placed as either the aggressors, with mad, psychopathic tendencies, or weak and ineffectual.

Every now and then, I get to go back to my community. It is like coming out of submarine and being able to breathe the air again – I do no longer have to explain my words, they can flow right out of me, I no longer have to curb my conversation because people won’t understand or are not interested, and my values are commonly shared with like-minded people.

The purpose of this narrative was to highlight that students also come to education with language, worldviews, and culture. They may also often feel alone. They may often feel misunderstood and undervalued. Culture comes in many forms, not just the usual ethnic definitions – it is very important in education to try and connect with your students, try and build a relationship, try and form a new family group that they can build new relationships with. Often, adult learners may be able to do this for themselves, but sometimes they feel outnumbered, they may feel that they don’t have the right language or that their worldview is not valued or is out of place.

Cultural sensitivity is more about trying to understand and respect their different values or viewpoints and taking these into consideration in your teaching. Also, in polytechnic training, part of our work is to help the student adjust to their new community or culture – work, study, career or adulthood. You then act as a mentor as they move into the new community, with all its culture – language, ritual, views and knowledge. What is my culture? …. I am a scientist.

In Charles Darwin’s early days his dad decided that his son was to be a doctor, so he was sent to Edinburgh to study medicine.  He did not do well in medicine and so was then sent away to Cambridge to study theology.  However, he kept being distracted by natural history and one thing led to another and the rest is … well, history.

Charles Darwin’s son apparently asked one of his school mates “when does your dad categorise his barnacles?”   The son obviously did not realise that everyone’s dad does not spend all day wondering about collecting and examining stuff, and that most dad’s had some sort of occupation.  However, Charles Darwin was born into a wealthy family and had the luxury of time to develop  an interest, a passion, an obsession and was able to dedicate time to wandering about collecting and examining stuff with nothing else to distract him.

Albert Einstein spent long, boring hours working as a patent clerk, day dreaming various theories and furiously writing and submitting papers for publication when he could.  His educational background was also checkered. But again, he had time to think – time to mull, time to dream, time to consider, time to wander about thinking stuff with nothing else to distract him.

Isaac Newton also did not distinguish himself in his educational pursuits.  During the plague years he took himself off to the country to avoid people and here he had a lot of time on his hands, to mull, to wander about thinking stuff with nothing else to distract him.  Left up to his own devices he founded most of modern science and mathematics.

Our society is full of people like these.  People who, maybe weren’t top of the class at school, maybe they were forced into careers they didn’t really care for, or dead-end jobs that don’t intellectually satisfy them.  We should have brilliant day dreamers left right and centre.  Why don’t we see evidence of ground breaking theories and activities from every supermarket checkout girl?  Maybe it is because they have no voice – no contacts to express their “weird” thoughts to. Maybe they don’t have enough educational background or exposure to have had “Eureka” moments.  Maybe, modern life doesn’t give us the luxury of time; to mull, to wonder, to think about stuff with nothing else to distract us.  We have email, cell phones and life is busy, busy.  Even our intellectuals are busy – too busy to mull, too busy to wonder:  deadlines….. funding reports …… patents to register ….. key performance indicators ….. bottom lines to address ….

I think the hopes for the future probably lie with our taxi drivers and our truck drivers.  Long periods of time for thinking.  Nothing much to distract them.  We’ve all met them – the really, really interesting taxi drivers.  Maybe we need to be writing courses for them – advanced calculus for truck drivers, quantum physics for taxi drivers. 

For our own students, we need also give them time.  Time to mull, to wonder, to see how this new information fits, to challenge their current thinking, to absorb a new principle, to consider their own thoughts, their own perspectives, to make the new information meaningful and relevant to their own worldview.  This is often reflected in self-directed hours.  We should not be so arrogant to expect that all learning occurs only when we are in front of them.  We need to give them time to think about what we have said, what we have shown them, what they did.  We need to let the paint dry and then apply the second coat.  But they need to do it – they need to realise that learning occurs outside of the classroom and that they need to work with the material, translate it and to reconstruct it.  We need to try and give them “Eureka” moments, but realise that they might have to do that for themselves, and give them time to do it.

One of the reasons that ITOs came into existence was due to the impression that polytechnics were out of touch with industry. And here we are, a decade or so later, and we still hear that polytechnics are out of touch. 

So let us examine this.  I know from my experience that ITO based training is not necessarily better than polytechnic education – note the deliberate use of the words training and education.  Polytechnics have significant overheads – academic boards, compliance, administration, and buildings, which sometimes simply make us a more expensive option.  Polytechnics are also considered to be slow to respond so the package may be considered to be out of date, or unable to deliver what industry wants.  Often industries just want training – they want people who can perform skills and gain the “ticket” and in a way that fits into the workplace with as minimal disruption as possible. 

Then there is the reason that polytechnics have all the significant overheads – the academic board, compliance, administration and buildings – in order to be in the business of education, we have quality standards which are based on activities that are well known and well researched to bring about good educational outcomes.  In the polytechnic sector we should be a blend of industry based knowledge and experience and educational based knowledge and experience. Education is by definition also about development, both mentally and morally, about being well-informed, well-read and adaptable as well as being skilled.

When NZQA developed unit standards, it was never the intention for them to drive curriculum. Yet, we all know that now they do.  We know it is not good education to constantly assess, to teach only to the unit standard, to package up our “education” into unit standard courses – but it makes for good training.  I do know that sometimes industry simply wants people to have the skills and to be able to do the job as soon as been employed. Anything less is seen as a failure of the educational system. Yet, if we continuously produce graduates that are unable to adapt to the future workplace, unable to contribute to the knowledge economy, unable to participate fully and knowledgeably in society – we are failing as an educational system.  

The focus on the needs of industry – the consumers of the product, means that polytechnics have been driven to a product model of curriculum design. That is, find out what employers want then design the curriculum to meet those needs. Often that creates a tension between “education” and “training”.  Praxis models of curriculum development look at the student – they look at their needs and how the curriculum helps them to reach their educational goals. 

Sometimes we know, because we are tutors and educators, that what industry is asking for may not necessarily be good education, even if it does address an urgent training need, and often in those circumstances, the student is the meat in the sandwich.  But, in terms of the product model of curriculum design, the desired outcome of employment is more likely to be met. 

So there is our challenge.  Are we educators, or trainers? If we truly are educators then we need to start educating.  We need to communicate openly with our industry partners – while we need to understand their business – maybe they also need to understand ours; for the betterment of the student, industry and ultimately the region.

(See also “In My Opinion” in this blogsite). 

One particular summer in the very early 1980s, my friend and I went everywhere together wearing matching hats. Mine was green and hers was pink. They had imitation flowers on the front of them and they were very hideous (yes, I do have photos). We loved them. That is, until “Princess” Diana started wearing hats and it become fashionable. That was it; our hats were discarded in disgust. I know that most glossy fashion magazines call Diana a fashion icon, but clearly we started that trend.

It’s often been like this. I used to design plumbing systems. Yes, I realise that sounds pretty odd. But gosh, I really wanted to have a house with my own plumbing system that recycled water. This was the mid 80s and there really wasn’t any need or interest in recycling water. I drew it all up – but somehow people thought it was funny. I haven’t completely given up on my dreams of internal plumbing but somehow other priorities have taken over and I scoff now as when we near ecological disasters and winter after winter worrying about southern hydro-lakes.

I also wrote an article on how New Zealand will need nuclear power plants as we can’t rely on hydropower and that the ‘evil’ of nuclear power will need to be balanced against the ‘evil’ of greenhouse gases. No one wanted to publish it. And, now this is really freaky – I also wrote a short story about two science technicians, one called Katie, and the other Marge. Ten years after writing that little story I worked in a science department with two women technicians – one named Kate, the other Margaret. (Insert Twilight Zone theme). I won’t bother telling you about how we had a cell phone before anyone had cell phones – only got a landline when my mum wanted to email me. Of course, now I don’t have a cell phone (because everyone else does ….)

So I am ahead of my time or I am slightly clairvoyant? Am I able to predict the future for tertiary education? I think its time for a new model. In most professions, we expect staff to specialise. In tertiary education we expect academic staff to be able to do everything. Keep up to date with the discipline they are teaching, resource and incorporate the latest teaching methods, theories and modes of delivery, administer, graphic design, word process, pastoral care, liaise with industry, meet the needs of the student, external regulating bodies and all the other changes and requirements of a sector always in constant flux. There is no wonder to me that we sometimes don’t meet the mark. There is no wonder that we often can’t recruit staff.

Any other industry uses people’s strengths, and people specialise to use their expertise for the betterment of their industry. Why don’t we have a pool of academic staff who write resources, specialise in instructional design, curriculum development, delivery methods, teaching methods theories and research? Why don’t we have a pool of academic staff that come from industry, are still part of industry, and are dynamic and motivating, passionate teachers that move their discipline forward, who use the resources produced by the other specialists, whose teaching is supported by experts in pedagogy. I really think it is time for a new model in the polytechnic system. We can’t expect people to be jacks-of-all-trades and masters of none. Let’s form multidiscipline teams and use people’s strengths.

Probably at this point that I need to tell you that my friend and I never realised that those flowers on our hats that we were wearing should have been facing the back of our heads – not the front as we wore them. It took me nearly 30 more years to figure that we spent a whole summer wearing our hats backwards…

While driving to town one day, my daughter who was 6 at the time proceeded to tell me all about how she knows about how girls are different from boys.

“How so?” I curiously enquired, wondering what the playground conversations and activities had been that lunchtime.

“Well,” she says “it’s all about how they drive”. With some relief, I nod in agreement and ask for more details. “It’s quite obvious really – boys drive using one hand on the steering wheel and girls use two hands”.

I was surprised. So we decided to study all the drivers on our trip. Sure enough … it was true! I don’t know what the men were doing with the other hand, but it wasn’t on the steering wheel (I suspect it was on the gear stick, or the radio knob or something). And we always think of the Women as being multi-taskers! We also started to take notice of the types of cars they were driving and I have since made another startling discovery. We tend to choose a car that looks like us or reflects our personality somehow even if we don’t realize it.

I find this very interesting as I used to drive quite a sexy, white, racy number – and now I drive a sort of grey, round, people carrier. My husband used to drive a perfectly functional, demure, brown Toyota – now he drives a tiny, economical, Starlet. It even has the lipstick mirror on the driver’s side instead of the passenger’s side. Mmm. Now, I get very excited when I see people I know coming out of their cars. I even sometimes walk around the WITT car parks trying to figure out whose car belongs to who? I LOVE it when someone I know who is fabulously creative steps out of a 1960s Beatle VW. I am confused when I see that same person driving with both hands on the wheel however……  Have you ever noticed how people sometimes look like their pets? Well, I think people look like or are like their cars (give your car a good look over before you get into it tonight).

But really, how is this possible? I think it is actually more about people making choices – and choices are often influenced by what we think about ourselves without us perhaps even realising it. How we drive, the type of car we drive, the pet we own, or our educational choices. Sometimes the student puts themselves into a little box “too dumb”, or something is “too hard” and their life choices sometimes reflect this. Part of our role in education therefore is to help them see themselves in a different way – as a successful learner, as someone who can contribute. Often this involves providing pathways, realistic feedback and encouragement, educational challenges that are appropriate to their own level, and helping people consider choices they once would have never considered.

It would be an interesting research project to study how, as people gain successes, their choices change – their choice of car, their choice of pet and their career aspirations. We often hear how education can be life changing, I wonder also if it is car changing …….

I was standing in the queue for the café the other day and I looked at all the people.  Women outnumbered men at about 3 to 1.   I was sitting at a meeting the other day and women outnumbered men at about 10 to 1.  Don’t get me wrong, this is not necessarily a criticism but it is an interesting phenomenon. Where have all the men gone?

We all know that supposedly girls thrive in the NCEA (National Certificate in Educational Achievement) environment where they are rewarded for persistent effort.  Where as boys classically thrive in the competitive environments of exams and last minute cramming.  So, are boys switched off learning from secondary school and not moving on to tertiary study?

We all know that supposedly women are the major caregivers for dependent children and so may not be in full time work, may be looking towards careers after the children have started school, and that men are mostly already engaged in work. If the bulk of our students are in this category, then they bring with them various challenges.  What to do with sick children when class is on?  How do they manage the self-directed study at home?  How do they balance the school drop off and pick up with class time.  If you place too many barriers on these students, their first priorities – looking after their families will always take precedent. 

We all know that supposedly some careers are favoured by females, and others are favoured by males. Looking at our portfolio of study options available: business administration, nursing, beauty therapy, hairdressing ….. generally speaking female students.  Within  engineering we have certificate and diploma level study options, and many of these students are trying to balance work and study.  This has the opposite effect for these students, these people need to access education often after normal work hours. 

Also I think there is another problem.  I firmly believe that many students are looking for careers and not just jobs to fit around the family, and often,  they are looking for degrees.  Young people don’t recognise diplomas, they don’t understand what they are. There was a study done on the attitudes of primary aged children and young girls wanted to grow up to “look after animals and people” in general.  Whereas the young boys wanted to “control people” and “make money”. 

Maybe that is why we are looking slightly more like a women’s institute of technology – our portfolio is mainly looking after people – nursing, social work, hospitality, servicing the community, those (males?) with career aspirations that involve being in charge, leading and making good money, just go elsewhere.    

One thing all our students have in common though is the need to have access to high quality, flexible learning options.  It’s not just what is convenient to us (timetabled hours of work, holidays, summer break off, delivering face to face) we need to focus on the needs of the LEARNER.  We HAVE to understand their needs.