LAW AND ETHICS

“Teaching in schools has long been considered a moral activity (Wilson, 1967, Tom 1884, Goodlad, Soder and Sirotnik, 1990) largely because it is recognised that how teachers fulfil their public duties influences the lives of vulnerable young people.”  (Allan Hall 2001)

We have a duty as professionals to up hold the teaching profession to be law abiding citizens at all times and to be role models for our students.  Our school has the value system of ADMIRE (Active brain, Dependable, Managing Self, Interactions, Relationships and Excellence).  As staff this guides us to model these values to the students as well as to each other.  “That is entirely consistent with Fullan’s desire for the staff of every school to develop a shared vision.” (Fullan, 1992)  I see our main stake holders as our students and realise that the values that I hold as well as our school values are very different to how some of them live.  We have to add ‘at school, or in our classroom this is acceptable behaviour,’ at the start of our statements.  For example while it may be acceptable for them to swear at home, it is not at school.  Also it is important for students to see how we behave in a professional manner to keep our teacher registration.

As teachers we are guided our code of ethics are guided by the four below principles.

Autonomy to treat people with rights that are to be honoured and defended

Justice to share power and prevent the abuse of power

Responsible care to do good and minimise harm to others

Truth to be honest with others and self.

Teaching respect both face to face and through technology is a big part of our role.  Technology issues even if they happen at the weekend creep into school and have an impact on our school day.  Choices that students make and often have not been discussed at home need to be dealt with at school.  They need to learn to take responsibility for what they write on line and learn to have autonomy.  Programmes such as internet safety have been introduced to help students learn about how to be digital citizens at school and in society. 

Respectful relationships are also formed between students and students, staff and students, staff themselves and staff with the whanau and community.  Communication is modelled in a calm manner and effective communication used where everyone can feel listened too.

Each ethical dilemma I deal with has to be handled individually with the students, family and staff.  Having built respectful relationships with students and their families is the first step in ensuring this.  Being a consistent, calm role model is as important to me as teaching.

References

Council, E. (n.d.). Code of Ethics for Certified Teachers. Retrieved from Educational council.org.nz.

Hall, A. (2001, April). What ought I to do, all things considered? An approach to the exploration of ethical problems by teachers. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz.

MY INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURAL RESPONSIVENESS ...

The second strategic aim of our charter is “To ensure Maori Culture is alive and well at Masterton Intermediate School.”  Our roll is made up of 31% Maori and daily the karakia can be heard on ever class, te reo Maori is taught, hapa kaka is alive and well and offered during class time as an option for students to join.  We are well known in the community for our strengths with Maori culture.

Russell Bishop in 2012 talks of the achievement gaps between Maori and non-Maori which we have had in New Zealand for over 60 years. We need to look at the individual student to address achievement gaps.  Over the last three years we were part of the Accelerated Literacy Learning programme (ALL). Our individual students made great progress and based on our reading around Ka Hikitia this was due to whanau involvement, knowing our learners, giving them choices, having high expectations, goal setting and front loading.  As the programme was so successful we had a mind shift as a staff and plan our teacher inquiry around target student’s each term to try and close the achievement gap. We encourage buy in from families and try to improve attendance as well.  We used achievement data effectively to guide students with their next steps.  Students set goals that are achievable in the short term and they can see their progress. Goals are shared with whanau by letters and then an afternoon tea sharing time where whanau were invited and students proudly showed off their learning.  Building self-esteem and having positive relationships with each child I believe were key to the success of our students.  This year we have introduced an extra parent, teacher, student conference to have extra contact with whanau.

Within my class I have Maori students, two Filipino girls, European students and I was born in England.  Each student is unique and has their own story.  We celebrate everybody’s cultures by using various greetings in the morning, hearing about their lives during inquiry times, reading stories from their countries and being respectful.  Relationships are key to being culturally aware.

An area for further development for our school is “Strong engagement and contribution from students, parents and whānau, hapū, iwi, Māori organisations, communities, and businesses – have a strong influence on students’ success.” (Ka Hikitia)  We need to have further input from whanau and use their expertise to help engage their students.  It is key to put time into professional development for all staff to ensure that we are catering for our students.  

My job is to know every individual student in my class, their story and their cultural. Every student is unique and special, that to me is being culturally responsive.

References

Bishop, R. (2012, September). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. Retrieved from Ed Talks.

Education, Minstry. of. (2017). Summary of Ka Hikitia Accelerating Success.

Masterton Intermediate School  (2017)  Charter   

Trends in the world- obesity and lack of exercise- how can we help?

The health of our students, how can we help?

All New Zealand children deserve to be educated about the importance of a healthy lifestyle, looking after their own Hauora, well-being.  

Well-being Hauora health.tki.org.nz

For this blog with limited word count I will give my thoughts around physical well-being, focussing on food and exercise, although it is hard to mention one strand without the others as they all interweave.

The government introduced Fruit in Schools in 2005 to low decile schools, 66% of their principals said they saw an improvement in the general health of their students. Today 543 schools are part of Fruit in Schools.

We are a decile 5, so did not qualify for this programme, but as educators it is our role to teach children about their physical well-being.   The trend nationally and globally is obesity is on the rise.  NZ statistics show the child obesity rate increased from 8% in 2006/07 to 11% in 2014/15. The World Health Organisation state obesity is preventable and it is due to a rise in foods high in fat and a lack of physical exercise.  The lifelong effect of unhealthy eating can lead to type 2 diabetes mellitus, stroke and heart disease.  Good nutrition helps children concentrate and gives them energy.  As part of our health programme we can teach these healthy eating and the benefits of regular exercise, literacy and inquiry can cover topics and obviously during PE we are increasing physical fitness. 

How many of our students walk or bike to school? Very few as we have a large number of bus pupils and students being driven because they live too far from school.  We have a huge number of students playing sport and this is encouraged for their physical as well as social well-being.

Last year, I ran an options programme called Food, Fitness and Fun. We ate a different colour each block, eating a rainbow over the two days.  It was astounding to see how many children had never tried different foods such as capsicum and blue berries. We also looked at food labels including breakfast cereals and measured the sugar content in put the sugar teaspoon equivalent and put it in plastic bags. Reading labels on the popular drinks the students drank shocked them, with the high sugar content. One girl went home and counted her sugar content over a week and put all the sugar in a jar.  She swapped her breakfast cereal and gave up her chocolate biscuits habit for afternoon tea, slashing her sugar intake.  This year, I am incorporating the above topics thought literacy and the label reading for statistics in maths.  Real life learning that will hopefully have a positive impact on my students’ food choices.

School canteens need to provide healthy food for students and schools provide water coolers or fountains to drink from, so water is all that is on offer.  Our students often have bought lunches and are at an age where food habits are being formed.  This is an achievable goal across schools in New Zealand to encourage healthy eating habits.  Globally the food industry should reduce the sugar and fat in products and ensure healthy options are affordable for everyone.  In New Zealand we can buy fizzy drink cheaper than milk, it’s no wonder we have an obesity problem.

                                                      

                                                        REFERENCES

Durie, M. (n.d.). Well-being, hauora. Retrieved from http://health.tki.org.nz.

Health, Ministry of (2017, February). Fruit in Schools programme. Retrieved from http://www.health.govt.nz.

Obesity and overweight. (2016, June). Retrieved from World Health Organisation.

Obesity statistics. (2016, Decemeber). Retrieved from http://www.health.govt.nz.

Tracking the Obesity Epidemic. (December, 2004). Retrieved from health.govt.nz.