If your child has been a part of our Uru Mānuka cluster at any time during her/his primary years you will most likely have heard those words (Manaiakalani, and ‘Learn Create Share’). If you are new to our kura and to Uru Mānuka, these may well be new words for you. What do they mean, and why do they matter?

Manaiakalani is an approach to learning that came out of South Auckland over a decade ago. It is based on a pedagogy (a ‘way of causing learning’) called 'Learn Create Share’. The graphic above might help you to understand what this means.

Where does the digital stuff come in? What is so important about the Chromebook? Your child’s Chromebook allows her/him to do things that they can’t otherwise do. The creativity tools available digitally allow people to do new things in new ways. That doesn’t mean that we abandon the old ways. It means that we add new depth and breath of possibility for our learners.

Digital tools allow learners to work with existing knowledge in new ways that weren’t possible before. Again that doesn't mean that we abandon the ‘old ways’, it means that we add depth and breadth to what our learners can do.

Digital tools mean that learners can share their learning with more and more people, they can share with what we call an ‘authentic audience’. Again it doesn’t mean abandoning the old ways. Students still share on stage, in the workshop, on the sports field, in their daily learning face to face. The digital tools allow them to do things that weren’t possible when I was at school.

Students still write with a pen or pencil, students still get outside and run around, they are not locked to their screens all day. Students still get into workshops and kitchens and ‘make stuff’, and they still interact face to face. ‘Learn Create Share’ and the use of digital technology allows us to add many layers to the depth of their learning and the evidence shows that it works. For example, across all of the 100+ Manaiakalani schools in the country, we accelerate writing progress by TWICE national averages. That’s pretty impressive.

So, thanks to all of you who have made those sacrifices to invest in your child’s learning by purchasing a Chromebook. If you haven’t had the opportunity to do so yet, if you find it is difficult, remember to contact us. We may be able to help.