Education guru to meet parents

Hadlow School in Masterton today turns its gaze to the future for a teacher-only day and a parents' meeting with leading education consultant Mark Treadwell.

Mr Treadwell had written "more than a million words" about changing practices in learning and had over the past five years presented more than 300 sessions on the paradigm shift to national and international audiences.

Hadlow principal Michael Mercer said the teacher-only day today and parents' meeting at the school from 6pm are part of a move to futureproof learning at the school and an example of Wairarapa schools leading the Ministry of Education's call "to prepare our children for the 21st century".

He said in the school bulletin the young today are daily put in touch with global issues and are faced with greater access to travel, values, attitudes, and cultural diversity than their parents.

"The world we live in, in the 21st century is quite a different place from the one that parents grew up in as students at school. Our young people today are exposed to a raft of information and communication tools via the internet as well as changes in the social structures around home and parenting.'

Mr Mercer said these issues are all challenging what is taught and learned in school and the "changing times and the future is almost impossible to predict".

Mr Treadwell will focus with Hadlow school teachers on "learning as adults and what effective learning means" and will at the evening forum encourage parents "to reflect on what the purpose of school is and how school can best prepare your children for the world they are entering - the world of the twenty-first century".

"Mark's passion is to communicate how the brain learns and from that provide some options for how we can best prepare learners to become lifelong learners. Our communities are asking these learners to be creative, innovative and ingenious, and expecting them to be able to make the wise decisions about how they interact with each other and their world."

The Hadlow School board had earlier distributed a survey to parents "to provide an opportunity for people to have their questions about future-focused learning answered by an expert in the field".

Mr Mercer said there had been a ministry call for "our current education model to be changed to address the needs of 21st century learners" and leading researchers and educationists also are promoting "a similar passion for change"

"Schools in New Zealand are already implementing change - not just the implementation and integration of IT devices, but a total overhaul of traditional practices in what is a rapidly changing world. Just the opportunity to have the discussion and to seek answers to questions will provide an authentic opportunity to provocatively question the status quo."