Part One: Learning Stories - a philosophical approach

Summary

In an insightful discussion, the speaker emphasizes the philosophical connection between learning stories and assessment for learning, particularly through the context of New Zealand's curriculum changes. Transformational education reforms, inspired by thinkers like Margaret Carr and Helen May, reframed how assessments are approached—moving from outdated checklist methods to narrative-centered evaluations. This shift championed a deeper understanding of student empowerment and saw the curriculum as a sociocultural tool rather than merely a set format. The learning stories method encourages educators to rethink traditional assessments and embrace narratives that view students as capable contributors.

Highlights

• The concept of 'learning stories' ties storytelling with learning assessment, encouraging a more holistic educational approach 🌟.
• Margaret Carr and Helen May played pivotal roles in reshaping New Zealand's curriculum towards a bicultural and sociocultural focus 🌿.
• Educators are encouraged to see beyond traditional assessments, fostering a narrative-based teaching style that empowers learners 📝.

Key Takeaways

• Learning stories represent more than an assessment tool; they're a philosophical approach to education 📚.
• The creation of New Zealand's curriculum, Tariki, marked a significant shift in educational practice and thought 🌏.
• Key figures like Margaret Carr transformed assessment into a narrative process that values student empowerment 💪.

Overview

The discussion opens with a warm introduction to Wendy, who is renowned for connecting storytelling with learning assessments. Her insights align with the dynamic changes in New Zealand's educational landscape, driven by notable leaders like Margaret Carr and Helen May.

The journey of developing New Zealand's groundbreaking curriculum, Tariki, ushered in a bicultural and sociocultural educational framework. This movement relied heavily on community input, ensuring it embraced diverse perspectives across the country's educational spectrum.

Learning stories emerged as a transformative concept, moving beyond rigid assessment methods to embrace narrative evaluations. This philosophy not only alters how educators approach teaching but also emphasizes the empowerment and capability of each child as a learner.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Guest Welcome The chapter begins with music playing in the background, establishing a welcoming atmosphere. The host expresses their pleasure and excitement in welcoming the guest, Wendy, to the show or event. The focus is on providing a warm welcome and setting a positive tone for the conversation that is about to ensue.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Connecting Story and Assessment The chapter discusses the concept of 'learning stories' as a philosophy, as highlighted in a keynote speech on National Child Day. A key idea is that the narrative approach to assessment can enrich understanding and engagement in educational settings.
• 01:00 - 02:30: The Birth of Tariki Curriculum This chapter discusses the concept of 'The Birth of Tariki Curriculum', a pivotal moment in New Zealand's educational landscape, especially in early childhood education. The curriculum aims to connect storytelling with assessment for learning, a central philosophy that translates learning stories into a key component of educational practice. This integration marks a significant turning point in how education is approached, particularly focusing on the early years of learning.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Contributions of Helen May and Margaret Carr The chapter discusses how the involvement of Helen May and Margaret Carr as lead writers brought a new perspective on curriculum. Initially, there was reluctance and fear towards curriculum due to concerns of it being overly structured and top-down. However, the government's decision to involve Helen May and Margaret Carr was seen as a clever move that shifted these perceptions.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Inclusivity in Curriculum Development The chapter discusses the importance of inclusivity in curriculum development, with a focus on bicultural and sociocultural aspects. It highlights the roles of Margaret, a kindergarten teacher, and Helen, a primary school teacher and former childcare worker, who are both respected figures in their community. They collaborated with Till and Tam from the Kangar Movement to initiate a process that led to the development of a more inclusive curriculum, emphasizing the concept of 'tariki'. This initiative reflects a significant shift towards understanding and incorporating diverse cultural perspectives in education.
• 03:30 - 04:00: The Emphasis on Belonging and Well-being The chapter discusses the development of 'tariki' in New Zealand's Early Child Education sector, emphasizing extensive consultation over five years with diverse groups including kindergartens, child care, home-based settings, and entities working with Pacific Island communities and children with special needs.
• 04:00 - 05:30: Shifting Assessment Practices The chapter titled 'Shifting Assessment Practices' discusses the evolution of education assessment and curriculum design. Margaret and Helen have been instrumental in providing critical insights into the distinctions between school-based curriculums and early childhood education. They introduced the concept of 'tariki,' which emphasizes a holistic approach to education focusing on belonging, well-being, contribution, communication, and exploration. This approach underlines the importance of lifelong learning and adaptability in educational practices.
• 05:30 - 07:30: Narratives and Learning Stories In the chapter titled 'Narratives and Learning Stories,' the focus is on the philosophical alignment and deeper implications of recognizing the importance of assessment in educational settings. Following the introduction of a new curriculum by the government, there is a realization that outdated assessment practices like checklists, Running Records, and time sampling methods would not align with the new educational philosophies. There's an emphasis on moving away from a developmental psychology viewpoint to prevent these old methods from influencing the new curriculum that was put forth.
• 07:30 - 08:30: Philosophical Approach to Learning Stories The chapter discusses the innovative approach Margaret took to assessment within a new curriculum framework. She secured a contract to explore modern assessment strategies and engaged a broad group of educators, including the speaker, particularly in the realm of kindergarten education. They began creating narratives to capture and assess learning, focusing on observation and storytelling. The process involved returning to the broader group with findings, suggesting an iterative and collaborative approach.

Part One: Learning Stories - a philosophical approach Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] [Music] okay well it is a absolute Delight to have you here Wendy um because we have
• 00:30 - 01:00 all already read your book several times and um having all these questions burning questions and I also had a privilege of of listening to your keynote um recently um on the national child day and there there was something that you said that really struck me and and this is um a statement that I will read from my notes and it's you said that learning stories is a philosophy and I'm just wondering what inspire you
• 01:00 - 01:30 to connect the two concepts of story and and um assessment for learning which essentially some people translate learning stories to be to to be uh Central to this philosophy that you referred to well actually you might need to go back a step or two um with the birth of tariki our curriculum and tariki really was such a a turning point in New Zealand education and in ear particularly in early childood education
• 01:30 - 02:00 as it brought into view a completely different way of looking at curriculum and many of us actually were very uh reluctant to have curriculum because we were I mean basically we we were fearful of the notion of curriculum because we thought we would get some sort of top down School school-based curriculum but of course um the government was very clever by engaging both Helen may and Margaret Carr as the lead writers
• 02:00 - 02:30 immediately this shifted things for a lot of us in the community we thought ah Margaret and Helen understand they know the community Margaret was a kindergarten teacher Helen was a primary school teacher but had been a childcare worker and both were enormously regarded and respected and immediately they engaged till and Tam from the kangar movement so this process began and the notion of tariki as a bicultural and also a sociocultural curriculum evolved
• 02:30 - 03:00 and this the pathway to the birth of tariki was 5 years of true consultation every possible group in New Zealand Early Child education with it was Kindergarten or Child Care homebased settings kungel Pacific island Nest people working with children with special needs and special rights all were actually immersed in this document and back and forth conversations would be held information would be fed
• 03:00 - 03:30 Margaret and Helen would write papers this would be fed back Us in the community constantly addressing the issues of real concern around what a schoolfi curriculum as opposed to An Early Childhood curriculum might look like so the birth of tariki was a fabulous moment when people saw ah this is about belonging well-being contribution communication exploration this is what we do lifelong learning and
• 03:30 - 04:00 I guess it was so in sync philosophically but at the same time it was much deeper than we really imagined and following the birth of taraki the government recognized that if we didn't address the issue of assessment yeah we would actually be in trouble because we would have old assessment practice the checklists the Running Records the time sampling all these old ways of being based on a more developmental psychology Viewpoint would drive our new curriculum and we wouldn't
• 04:00 - 04:30 get the benefit and so Margaret won the contract to to actually look at what might assessment look like now that we've got this new curriculum and she again went back to the broader group there we were a number of working PS I was involved in the kindergarten one and in kindergarten and we started to write narratives you got us writing narratives about learning and watching and observing and writing stories and she came came back one day
• 04:30 - 05:00 and she said to us ah I have it it was her inspiration she said you are writing learning stories and so that that was really it's been such an extraordinary Journey the notion of learning stories and it has captured the imagination of teachers all around the world and I guess one of the things my my turning it to a philosophical idea rather than just assessment was the fact that I I was
• 05:00 - 05:30 very determined as a person very much involved in professional learning that people didn't see this as some sort of form or format or formula that you write a story because actually if people see it like that what they do is they just write their old observations inside the forms the emperess Clos and you can't be seen and it was the the engagement of writing these stories and thinking about those substantial shifts in educational practice and Theory
• 05:30 - 06:00 that changed the sort of notion from just assessment but sociocultural assessment thinking about the power of narrative thinking about empowerment so Central to our curriculum that you you could no longer actually do checklists and developmental framing if you said you needed to the the the assessment practice must see the CH as capable and competent so trans it just there were so many ideas that sat underneath learning
• 06:00 - 06:30 stories that meant it was more than just assessment it was a philosophical approach and you needed to think about those wider issues before you could actually do great learning stories you had to change your practice actually