Having a Say - Consultation on the NZ Education Act
Aims of the Organisation:
The Virtual Learning Network (VLN) Primary School extends learning opportunities for students by enabling online collaborations between schools. The VLN Primary is about providing equity and access to better learning opportunities for New Zealand students. It connects schools through a collaborative online network (the Virtual School) in order to share the best of our teaching strengths, open up access to specialist teachers and to build professional capability that enables schools to become more flexible and open places of learning for our children. Our projects gives students a voice and choice in what they learn, how, when and where they learn, and who they learn with; regardless of their geographical location and economic means. We provide teachers and school leaders with professional learning and support to enable schools to develop as networked future focussed learning organisations.
The VLN Primary School is a registered Charitable Trust governed by its participating schools and supported in part by the MoE and schools.
Introduction:
We agree that our education system is an evolving system where every school and kura should be supported to be the best it can be, making the most of what is locally available, embedded in a strong community base, but also making the most of a wider network of expertise, skills, resources in the schooling system. This submission therefore focuses on the proposal Enabling collaboration, flexibility and innovation.
In our proposal to the MoE in 2013, we asked that the MoE reorient their policies and resourcing to enable our collaborative model for online learning works to be sustainably resourced so as to achieve its potential to benefit our children. We also recommended there be a system level change (Educational Act) to enable students, teachers and leaders to work across schools in virtual schooling environments. We welcome this opportunity to submit to changes to the Education Act.
We are advocating for changes to the Education Act that enables learning that is flexible, open and accessible for all our learners across a networked schools system.
Specifically we ask that changes to the Education Act enable:
Students to be enrolled in more than one school.
Students to not have to be physically present at school to be considered enrolled and participating in programmes of learning. This can include students who are partially home schooled, or need flexible time out of school for their wider learning or special circumstances.
Teachers to be able to work across multiple schools and also not need to be physically present in a school for part or all of their working time.
Professional support and leadership for teachers who work online and across multiple schools to ensure they are able to meet the requirements for performance appraisal and ongoing registration. And to ensure that online teachers have the same access to professional opportunities such as PLD, scholarships, sabbaticals and the like.
Resourcing for schools to collaborate virtually, regionally and nationally. Including the establishment of national and regional coordination, brokerage and leadership. The establishment of Communities of Learnings shows that there is a cost in the brokerage and support of schools collaborations.
Virtual schools (VS) be established as part of the publicly funded schooling system.
We ask that the changes to the Education Act recognise the role that groups such as the VLN Primary have in providing support, structure and expertise for schools to develop collaborative learning opportunities for students and teachers in blended and online learning environments.
We ask that the changes to the Education Act address how these groups can be supported by ongoing resourcing and funding to enable them to sustain their development and positive impact on the benefits to learners.
A revised Education Act needs to be responsive to the future needs of education, and take into account the opportunities that online and virtual learning can create to meet the changing needs of our schools and learners.
We would be very happy to speak to this submission.
“…the answer lies in reorienting the system. Our challenge, as we examine how to make a difference… is to reorient our system away from the organisation to the learner.
Placing the learner at the centre of the education system (personalising) ….It’s about providing a flexible system where teachers, schools, communities, and other groups can identify the needs of learners and be provided with the tools and support to meet those needs…
E-Learning with learners and teachers and the centre of their own communication and information networks is a key idea in this new action plan for schools.”
Steve Maharey (2006)
Enabling the 21st Century Learner
Ngā mihi
VLN Primary School, ePrincipal
Mob : 027 6566140
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“Don’t limit a child to your own learning,
for s/he was born in a different time”