Module 5 Assignment: Diverse Learners

Tim Webster

Part 1: The concept of Diverse Learners

The concept of Diverse Learners - promoting the idea and practice of
inclusive education, where all children and young people are engaged
and achieve through being present, participating, learning and belonging
- is a key element of New Zealands education policy and system.
The concept is currently embodied in the Ministry of Educations strategy
and vision, Success for all Every School, Every Child (2010) aiming for all
schools/kura to demonstrate inclusive practices by 2014, and
accompanying resource supports, which aim to enable all students with
special education needs to access the learning and mitigate any
challenges to enable tem to learn and achieve in line with the New
Zealand Curriculum. Success for All represents a distillation of policy shifts
and refinements over the last 30 years in New Zealand which gradually
envisioned and implemented education reforms aimed at addressing
discrimination against children and students of diverse backgrounds and
needs, from Maori and Pasifika students to those with special needs in
speech and vision and hearing, or learning disabilities.
A number of national and international reforms and legislation have fed
into this concept. The NZ Draft Review of Special Education in 1986
proposed fundamental principles for special education - universal, integral
with other education programmes, lifelong, needs based, effective and
accountable as well as recommending various forms of mainstreaming for
those with special education needs. Further reforms over the late 1980s,
including the establishment Resource Teachers Special Needs (RTSN)
positions, and the NZ Education Act of 1989, refined and reinforced these
concepts. These approaches were reinforced by New Zealands signature
to the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the highly
significant UNESCOs 1994 Salamanca Conference on Special Needs
Education, which reinforced the concept that inclusive societies and
education systems were the most effective means to combat
discrimination.
New Zealands Special Education 2000 provided the first educational
support for children and students with disibilties including the
establishment of the RTLB service, and in 2001 the Ministry of Health
developed The New Zealand Disability Strategy with the aim to implement
a number of significant objectives establishing rights and assistance to
those with disabilities including access education. In 2002 the NCEA was
introduced to schools, among other things to acknowledged diverse
student achivement across a range of contexts and purposes.
The current New Zealand Curriculum, established in 2007, embodies these
collective commitments to diverse learners and inclusive practices. And
the Principles of inclusive education has been further extended in policy
terms to Maori through the 2008 Ka Hikitia: Managing for Success and its
follow up policy document in 2013, Ka Hikitia; Accelerating Success. Both
of which set the direction for improving how the education system

performs for Maori. In 2009 the Pasifika Education Plan, and its follow up
document in 2013, laid out what needs to be done so the education
system works for Pasifika.
Below are some of the current documents in more detail.

Part 2: Key Documents focusing on Diverse

Learners
Note: These documents target specific groups of Diverse Learners. But
each document also targets - as practitioners of the principles and
practices they promote - teachers and education professionals, along with
students wider communities and whanau in many cases, and wider
communities, including businesses, in some.

Ka Hikitia Accelerating Success 2013 2017

The Ka Hikitia document targets Maori learners and communities as well
as the teachers and education professionals that support them. Its intent
is to realize the vision of Maori students enjoying and achieving education
success as Maori.
The main ideas expressed in the document are to highlight that the
current education system has not worked well for some students, and that
Maori are notable among them. It calls for action to address this challenge
from all involved in education - students, parents, iwi, whanau, education
professionals, businesses, government agencies and the wider education
sector. Ka Hikitia outlines a vision of Maori education success where Maori
identity, language and culture are reflected in education; Maori know their
potential and feel supported to set goals and enjoy education; experience
learning as relevant, engaging and rewarding; gaining the skills and
knowledge to achieve success. .
To guide action needed to achieve this vision, Ka Hikitia identifies:
guiding principles to steer the way we do things,
focus areas to prioritise resources and activities,
goals and actions to accelerate change, and
targets to keep us on track and measure success.
The guiding principles are:
The Treaty of Waitangi, as a guarantee for Maori success and
emphasising the power of collaboration between the Crown and iwi.
Maori potential approach, emphasizing the need to focus on
Maori student potential and for all involved to share high
expectations.
Ako a two-way teaching and learning process, where
learning and agency is dynamic and reciprocal.
Identity, language and culture, emphasizing the need for Maori
students to see their experience and knowledge in the Ako.

Productive partnerships, highlighting the fact that success

depends on partnership

Ka Hikitia identifies critical factors for success as:

high quality teaching and governance, and

strong engagement from students and those that support them.
as well as:

supporting Maori students in times of transition; and

creating strong support for them to navigate educational pathways

The document outlines focus areas, including: language education; early

learning; primary and secondary education; tertiary education; and
organizational success.
In terms of how it supports my practice in relation to the NZ
Curriculum, Ka Hikitias principles and critical factors provide key guides
as to what will be expected of me and what things I need to focus on.
Ka Hikitia also delineates a few key points in its analysis of secondary
education that are significant here too. It notes that its goals are that all
Maori students have strong literacy, numeracy and language skills, and
that they achieve at least NCEA Level 2 or equivalent. This provides key
expectations of me in my practice as a teacher in helping to meet those
goals
Ka Hikitia also identifies, in addition to critical factors relevant across the
focus areas, Ka Hikitia the need for stakeholders to
use student achievement data to target resources for optimal effect,
provide early intensive support for at risk students, and
share and grow knowledge and evidence of what works
all which provide further key guides for my practice in relation to meeting
the needs of the NZ Curriculum.

Tataiako: Cultural competencies for teachers of Maori

learners
The Tataiako targets teachers and their relationships and engagement
with Maori learners and with their whanau and iwi. Its intent is support
teachers competencies to personlise learning for and with Maori learners
to ensure they enjoy educational success as Maori.
The main ideas expressed in the document is that there are five key
competencies which teachers can develop and strengthen to build
relationships and engagement with Maori learners. Tataiako takes as the
basis for the five competencies three principles from Ka Hikitia, namely:
the importance of the teacher-learner relationship; the importance of
identity, language and culture; and the importance of productive
partnerships.
The five competencies are:

Wananga: communication, problem solving and innovation.

Namely participating with learners and communities in robust
dialogue for the benefit of Maori learners achievement.

Whanaungatanga: relationships (students, school-wide, and

community) with high expectations. Namely actively engaging in
respectful working relationships with Maori learners, parents and
whanau, hapu, iwi and the Maori community.

Manaakitanga: values integrity, trust, sincerity, equity. Namely,

demonstrating integrity, sincerity and respect toward Maori beliefs,
language and culture.

Tangata Whenuatanga: place-based, socio-cultural awareness and

knowledge. Namely, Affirming Maori learners as Maori - providing
contexts for learning where Maori identity, language and culture is
affirmed.

Ako: practice in the classroom and beyond, namely, demonstrating

integrity, sincerity and respect towards Maori beliefs, language and
culture.

Tataiako then develops how these competencies would look in successful

practice for different stages or levels in a teachers career. For initial
teacher education and for graduating teachers the focus is on marama:
developing an understanding of the issues and an openess to Maori
knowledge and expertise. For certified teachers the focus is on mohio;
knowing how to validate and affirm Maori culture. For education leaders
the focus is matua: being able to lead and engage with others on these
issues.
Tataiako then describes what the outcomes would look like in terms of
learner voice and whanau voice if these five competencies are put into
successful practice.
While these competencies are not formal standards or criteria, Tataiako
notes where they align with the Education Councils Graduating Teacher
Standards (GTS)
This document supports my teaching practice in relation to NZC by
outlining key competencies I, as a graduating/provisionally registered
teacher, am expected to develop to help to ensure Maori learners enjoy
educational success as Maori, and specifying what this would look like for
me at my level of development. Tataiako outlines key ways in which I can
ensure that Maori learners succeed in meeting the expectations of the NZ
Curriculum and NCEA.

Inclusive Education, Guides for Schools

The website Inclusive Education (http://inclusive.tki.org.nz/) and
associated publications - Success for All Every School, Every Child, a
foundation document; and booklets on What an inclusive school looks

like and Inclusive practice in secondary schools - targets diverse

learners of all walks and the teachers and Schools that work to ensure
their learning. Its intent is to provide New Zealand educators with guides,
practical strategies, suggestions and resources to support learners with
diverse needs, from Maori and Pasifika students to bullying and
behavioural issues, assessment, technologies and special needs like
ADHD, Dyslexia and hearing, speech and vision impairment.
The main ideas expressed in Inclusive Education website and its guides
and strategies are promoting the idea and practice of inclusive education,
where all children and young people are engaged and achieve through
being present, participating, learning and belonging. It is based on the
principle of educating for diversity, which, given that each student brings
unique and diverse experiences needs and strengths, posits that
education systems need to be flexible and responsive to this predictable
diversity rather than expecting students to fit around a fixed system of
teaching and learning.
It defines an inclusive school as a school where
all students are welcome and are able to take part in all aspects of
school life;
where diversity is respected and upheld; where all students are
supported to be confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong
learners within the New Zealand Curriculum; and
where all students identities, languages, abilities and talents are
recognized and affirmed and their learning needs addressed.
Inclusive Education also defines what students, as well as their parents
and communities will feel if this inclusive education is put into practice
well.
The website and its supporting documents supports my practice in
relation to NZC by outlining key ways I, as a secondary school teacher,
can put this vision of diverse learners into practice, by adopting the
principles it outlines. There is also a wealth of practical information and
guidance on how to approach diverse learners in the guides, practical
strategies, suggestions and resources offered on the website, all of which I
can use in my practice. The booklet: Inclusive Practice outlines the
context in which school leaders are encouraged to implement the
principles of inclusiveness, defining further what expectations of me as a
teacher will be in regards my own practices and approaches to inclusive
education.

Pasifika Education Plan 2013 2017

The Pasifika Education Plan (PEP) targets Pacific Island - Pasifika
communities within New Zealand. Its intent is to create the conditions for
strong, vibrant and successful Pasifika communities.
The main ideas expressed in the document is that New Zealands
education system must work better for Pasifika learners, and that the best
way to achieve this is by promoting closer alignment between Pasifika
learners educational environment and their home and cultural life, so that

communities, education providers and services are using their connections

and affiliations to work together toward better outcomes.
The PEP seeks to apply the work and goals of the Ministry of Education
and its partner agencies and adapt them to Pasifika needs in education
and ultimately Pasifika needs the wider national community at large. The
PEP aims to do this by leveraging specifically Pasifika identities, languages
and cultures whether they be Samoan, Tongan, Tokelauan, Niuean, Cook
Island, Fijian or other - to address those Pasifika needs.
The PEP identifies key actors/sectors that need to be involved, outlines
goals and targets for each and specifies actions that the Ministry of
Education and its partner agencies will take to achieve those goals. The
key actors/sectors identified are: Parents, Families and Communities, the
Early Learning sector; Schooling in the primary and secondary sectors;
Tertiary Education; and the Education Sector.
For the Secondary and Primary sectors, key to myself as a secondary
school teacher, the PEP outlines the following goals, namely that:
1. Pasifika learners excel in literacy and numeracy and make effective
study choices that lead to worthwhile qualifications.
2. Pasifika school leavers are academically and socially equipped to
achieve their goals for further education, training and or
employment;
3. Pasifika parents, families and communities engage with schools in
supporting their childrens learning.
The targets specified in these sectors are significant, namely:

that 85% of Year 1-10 Pasifika learners will meet literacy and
numeracy expectations in 2017, including achieving at or above in
national Standards across years 1-8.
that, in 2017, 95% of Pasifika school leavers leaving school have
NCEA Level 1 literacy and numeracy, and 85% of Pasifika 18 years
olds achieve NCEA level 2 or equivalent.
that, in 2017, the number of Pasifika school leavers with University
Entrance is on par with non Pasifika school leavers.
That, by 2014, 80% of schools demonstrate fully inclusive practices
that will allow Pasifika students enjoy and achieve there.

The PEP supports my practice in relation to the NZ Curriculum by:

outlining MoE goals with regard to Pasifika students I will teach and
the context within which I will teach the NZ Curriculum.
outlining key expectations of me as a secondary school teacher with
regards to Pasifika student achievement within the NZC and NCEA.
giving me clear motivation to include Pasifika-relevant curriculum
content in the classes, units, Achievement Standards and Lessons
that I teach.
giving me clear motivation to adapt my teaching practices, activities
and tasks to cater for Pasifika culture and educational needs
preparing teachers like myself , if the PEP is successful in moving
toward its targets, to expect growing confidence, capabilities and

expectations from Pasifika students and their parents/communities

to which we will have to respond.
English Language Learning Progressions.
The English Language Learning Progressions (ELLPs) Website, on ESOL
Online on TKI, and associated booklets targets English language learners
(ELLs) and the ESOL specialists and mainstream teachers that work with
them.
The ELLPs intent is to help specialist and teachers choose content,
vocabulary and tasks that are appropriate to ELLs in terms of their age,
stage and language needs in such a way that corresponds with the NZ
Curriculum. The ELLPs is also designed to be a resource for educators and
teachers helping those who speak English as a first language but who
need specific language support. The ELLPs also help schools and teachers
identify starting points for ELLs as well as track and monitor their
progress.Four booklets an introduction and booklets for Years 1-4; 5-8;
and 9-13 as well as a volume aimed to provide professional development
support to educators (Using the English Language Learners Progressions:
Professional support for leaders and teachers) make up the ELLPs hard
copy resource collection.
The main ideas expressed in the collection is that these documents
are intended to sit alongside The Literacy Learning Progressions, in
support of the New Zealand Curriculum, with the aim that ELLs will work
toward proficiency in the same literacy competencies as all New Zealand
students despite differences in pathways or progress. The other key idea is
that that
The document supports my practice in relation to New Zealand
Curriculum by providing specific and varied guidance on how to support
ELLs with a useful range of resources and strategies and monitoring tools.
In fact the ESOL Online site has a vast range of incredibly useful resources
to look a t student needs, but, most particularly useful for teachers,
provides a huge array of activities and strategies around teaching that can
be used in almost any teaching, not just for ELLs. It is the most impressive
collection of resources on TKI or anywhere.