Brigit Manning: Good time to think on education

Our teachers need the freedom to address each student as that student's needs demand.

Just before school finishes, as the Christmas rush gains momentum, it may not seem like the best time for our government to initiate a major public consultation on the purpose of education - but that's how it is.

Here's my view on why the timing could not be better: We anticipate the birth of Christ and in doing so celebrate the arrival of every new baby on this planet (including our own). Think of the hope, joy and explosion of goodwill that a new baby can bring to a family.

Think of the mystery and fascination with which we hold the little bundle of promise ... a gift from we don't know where. Now think about the goals of education. In the context of Christmas, any answer to this question that does not hold the gift of life with gratitude and reverence is badly off key.

As a mother, sending my child to school, I need to know that the goals of education in this country respect the mystery of life and the gift of life - every life. Answering this question becomes easy!

The reason for answering this question now is also easy: early responses to this initial consultation will guide the scope of political conversations that will take place throughout the whole of next year.

Now is the time to say what we want at a high level so officials can be guided by this and work on the details through time. I believe that this initial consultation could be a serious start to both freeing up resources that are now being unproductively consumed and establishing quite new relationships between the major players in education.

This requires all of us to grow up together as a society. We have to participate now and ask for what we want! Deadline for submissions is 5pm on December 14.

Here's my answer to the question about the purpose of education:

1) Bring out the higher self in every child so that they are able to consider the past with gratitude and anticipate their future with generosity. Why? Because goodness is important and our education system must recognise that we must all contribute to goodness in human society. This is the basis of our civilisation.

We need NZ citizens who approach life from the perspective of what they can give rather than what they can get.

2) Recognise and realise the innate potential of every child. Some children are gifted in every way while other children's gifts may be harder to discover, nevertheless this is the task of education. Innate potential is immeasurable - but progress towards realising it is very measurable and is exactly what counts the most.

Progress must be as important as achievement because progress motivates both teacher and student. Measuring progress rather than achievement immediately levels the playing field between gifted and needy students. It rewards both teacher skill and student application. (If enough people echo this idea, then National Standards, which is all about raising measurable achievement, will have to be reconsidered.)

3) Accommodate all different styles of learning. If we are to be truly grateful for the gift of life, we need to appreciate all the different varieties of person that we meet. Nowhere is this more important than within the school classroom.

Our teachers need the freedom to address each student as that student's needs demand. In this way the children also learn to appreciate the differences present within their classmates - and enrich their lives immeasurably in the process.

4) Create a focus for the community that the school serves. Why? Schools' role in creating a focus for their communities is important because it is the community that provides the child and to which the child belongs. When a school does this well, its parent community can do a better job of looking after itself and its school.

5) Grow good teachers. Why? Teachers cannot constantly bring more energy to schools than they get back out of schools - even with long holidays. We need to take a whole-of-life approach to planning the teacher career so that it makes the very best use of the different energies and gifts through the teaching life.

This may mean sharing some roles, creating new ones and reconsidering the boundaries around moving into and out of the classroom freely and at the right times. If enough people echo this idea, then some initiatives around this may come up in future reviews of the Education Act.

There are a number of options for making submissions. Here are the links: Go for it!

-http://www.education.govt.nz/news/consultation-underway-to-update-the-education-act/

-http://www.education.govt.nz/ministry-of-education/consultations-and-reviews/education-act-update/

-Brigit Manning is a contract technical and business writer based in Hawke's Bay.

-Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions. The views expressed here are the writer's personal opinion, and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz