Week 30 - TRENDS THAT ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE

The New Zealand Education Review Office (2016) identifies three key interrelated themes as pressing issues in the New Zealand education system:

1. Student-centred learning –Shifting the focus to student centred-learning.

2. Responsive and rich curriculum –Knowledgeably implementing a responsive and rich curriculum.

3. Assessment used for students’ learning – Using assessment information to know about, and plan for, students’ learning.

In order to address these issues, we need to consider how we are going to develop our teaching and learning practices in these areas. One solution could be looking into the emerging trends in digital technology. CORE Education New Zealand, releases a document each year on the top 10 trends in New Zealand Schools. These trends are expected to influence the New Zealand education sector over the years (CORE Education, 2017). They are organised into five key areas of change - Structural, Technology, Process, Economic, and Cultural.

CORE Education Top 10 Trends 2017. Retrieved from: https://www.core-ed.org/assets/PDFs/Ten-Trends-6July2017.pdf

The two areas that have played an integral role in my practice were the ‘process’ and ‘cultural’ trends.


PROCESS TRENDS - Inclusive Education and Collaboration

Core Education (2017) states that inclusive education involves moving from thinking of education as a linear process representing a ‘factory’ model of production, to a process that accommodates and caters for the widely different sets of needs and abilities represented by any cohort of learners. Collaborative practice is becoming the ‘new norm’ in schools, occurring at all levels, including students, teachers, and leadership. This is very true indeed as the new age of technology is increasing so is the push to develop our learners digital and collaborative skills in learning. My learners all love using digital technology in the classroom and the fact that they have their own laptops, but they need to learn how to use these devices and which digital programs to use, to collaborate with their peers.

I’ve noticed that teachers are thinking more about the way they design their learning in the classrooms and are trying to be inclusive of all age groups and abilities. The challenge is that not every student learns and communicates in the same way and we all know this. We can’t expect everyone to do the same work, or do it the same way. This is not success! Through this, we are learning to develop a more inclusive mindset. I think the shift in focus is we are providing learning experiences that caters for and includes all learners. As educators, we want to empower learners to meet the same learning goals and achieve the same learning outcomes.

Collaboration is integral to effective pedagogy and effective learning and teaching. ‘As teachers and educators, we need to work smarter together rather than harder alone’ (Educational Leaders website, NZ). The key is giving students the decision-making tools they need to shape their own learning experiences.



CULTURAL TRENDS - Digital citizenship and global connectedness stood out for me.

Digital citizenship — understanding what it means to live respectfully and responsibly in a world where digital technologies are changing the ways we connect, communicate, and relate to one another (CORE Education, 2017). It is more than just cyber safety it is using a combination of the values and key competencies (KC’s) from the New Zealand Curriculum and applying these to digital technology. We want our learners to be safe whilst enjoying the social and cultural life of being connected globally through the digital world, we want our learners to become resilient and to take risks and think about their choices. At first, my learners didn’t think of learning digitally as encompassing values and KC’s but this is an integral area of education. It is becoming more important that students learn to use the internet effectively but responsibly. It is also integral that we refer back to the values and key competencies to guide us in our learning and teaching.

Global connectedness — understanding the impact and implications of what it means to live in a more globally-connected world, including understandings of and respect for the language, culture, and identity of others (CORE Education, 2017). I believe if students use the internet responsibly then it should provide them with many rich learning opportunities and experiences that will help keep them globally connected. It has been argued that students need, among other things, opportunities to build their sense of identity, become self-reliant, critical and creative thinkers, and be able to use initiative, be team players and be able to engage in ongoing learning throughout their lives (Ministry of Education, 2012). Yes, it is important that our learners are educated about culture, and to be mindful of others beliefs, religions and views. Only through a multicultural education will children be able to reach their full potential and be better equipped both collaboratively and digitally, to face the wider world in the future.





References

CORE Education. (2013). Ten Trends 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2018, from https://www.core-ed.org/research-and-innovation/ten-trends/2013/digital-citizenship/

CORE Education. 2017. Core Ten Trends 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2018, from https://www.core-ed.org/assets/PDFs/Ten-Trends-6July2017.pdf


Education Review Office. (2016). Findings. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from:

http://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/evaluation-at-a-glance-priority-learners-in-new-zealand-schools/findings/


Ministry of Education. (2012). Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/109306

Week 32 - GROWING AS A TEACHER, EDUCATOR, AND LEARNER

Teaching is learning and in return, we teach what we learn. When we first started the Mindlab journey we were asked to think about the Key Competencies (KC) from the New Zealand Curriculum. Of the five Key Competencies, we had to identify what were our strengths and what needed developing over the duration of the course. 

Image: Ministry of Education - Key Competencies (2014). Retrieved from: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Key-competencies/About

Reflection

Larrivee (2000) summarises nicely that “Critical reflection is not only a way of approaching teaching – it is a way of life. The more I explore, the more I will discover. The more I question, I can access a whole world of possibilities. I want my learners to empower themselves to be reflective of their own practice. We grow together and learn together, and build on the next steps. It is important that reflective practice is cultivated and fostered to become effective. It can then be a “powerful tool to examine and transform practice” (Finlay, 2008, p.10).

When critically reflecting on my strengths I enjoy helping others and sharing my knowledge learned and resources I have accumulated. My thinking started as a fixed mindset but slowly developed into using a growth mindset approach. This opened up a whole lot of new opportunities and experiences for me to not only learn but to deliver learning experiences that were out of my comfort zone. In our Mindlab workshops, I was ‘Participating and Contributing’ and ‘Relating to Others.’ I enjoyed working alongside our Wairoa Mindlab cohort, sharing ideas and resources and being there to support one another.

Areas I had to develop were ‘Managing-Self’ and ‘Thinking’ outside the box. My self-management was frantic this term as I experienced frustration with my workload and trying to balance these with my home life. Great to say though I am slowly getting there. ‘Thinking’ was the KC that I identified needed the most work. From an educator point of view, I know I need to be open-minded and to consider all possibilities for learning. In my practice, I tried to be consciously aware of the thinking and understanding required in learning and considered how I might use this to lead a particular innovation or idea in a way that is respectful to my learners and helps them to make their own connections with the innovation. I had to adjust my mindset in our Mindlab learning and with using digital technologies. 

Key Changes in my Practice

1. Collaboration: I quickly realised that in my years of teaching I could not do it alone. I needed to talk to colleagues, friends and people in the wider communities, to bounce ideas off one another. Extending my professional network with others in the same profession as I have helped me grow as a teacher. I learned that a lot of our learning in Mindlab requires collaboration, and communicating with others. 

2. Being resilient: Asking for help when needed, rising up from challenges in teaching and learning from them, and being aware of my strengths and how I can help others were key changes in my practice.

3. Takings risks: There are areas of my teaching that I still need to further develop but I give it a go anyway. If I encourage my learners to participate and contribute in everything then why shouldn’t I. I took the unknown leap into a world I was unfamiliar with but have reaped the rewards of doing so, and so too have my learners.

Recognising my strengths and weaknesses I soon found myself an e-leader within my school by promoting digital programmes such as Blogger, using Class Notebook with my students and integrating the use of Staff Notebook to document teacher appraisal and other general business at school.

Where to next? 

My goal for this year is to implement digital gaming into our curriculum learning in the classroom. In order to do so, I will need to strengthen my abilities to get this up and running through developing my learners' abilities in making connections with the skills and values learned from digital games. To get them not only thinking about skills and values but applying all of the Key Competencies to their learning as well. 

I believe that using my strengths and developing the ability to help my learners have an awareness of their thinking around the use of digital technologies for learning, they too will move with the rapidly changing technology of today’s world. I am excited at the opportunities these next steps bring and the new pathways that open ahead as I continue on my educational journey.

References

Finlay, L. (2008). Reflecting on reflective practice. PBPL. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/files/opencetl/file/ecms/web-content/Finlay-%282008%29-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf

Larrivee, B. (2000) Transforming teaching practice: becoming the critically reflective teacher, Reflective Practice, 1(3), 293-307

Week 31 - BEING CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE & CULTURALLY RESPONSIBLE

Culture is learned from the people we are raised by and interact with. When considering our cultural responsiveness we must act upon our own cultural views of the world. In order to truly respond to our learners in a culturally conscious way we must first look at ourselves to see whether or not we understand our own culture. We all view the world differently through our own eyes. However, our views of cultures within the world tend to change as we learn, and acquire knowledge throughout our lives. We all come across barriers pertaining to culture but we must acknowledge these and work together to break down the barriers so that they do not become part of the norm. 

Cultural responsiveness is the ability to learn from and relate respectfully with people of your own culture as well as those from other cultures (Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Practice, 2018).

Cultural responsiveness begins with relationships. The relationships we develop with our students and their families is crucial in beginning to understand one’s culture. 

Culture not only refers to race or ethnicity but also includes the unique features of communities. It includes demographic makeup (in locations worldwide), a person’s gender, age, the language spoken, and local history. Understanding the specific cultural characteristics of a community is important in order to achieve intended outcomes.

Image: Culturally Responsive Classrooms and Schools by PassageWorks Institute (2016). Retrieved from http://passageworks.org/culturally-responsive-classrooms-and-schools/

I view culture as including the values and beliefs of a group of people. It is about adopting a code of ethics as we know it from the educational council and applying it to all cultures. Culture is important, it is a way of forming relationships to shape our understanding and behaviour of one’s culture.

How does culture apply to my class environment?

A lot of research points towards creating culturally inviting spaces for your children in the classroom. This is great but I tend to value the relationships more. If relationships aren’t formed between yourself and the students, or the student and their peers then how are they going to share this culturally inviting space you have provided them with. Furthermore, relationships formed with parents further enhance cultural understanding. We learn from each other and grow together to the benefit of the students.

What now?

My advice to offer would be to reflect on what you have learned about your students. For example, their cultures, background and home life, their skills, experiences, and interests. What are their strengths? How can you build on these and use them to guide you in integrating your students’ culture, using the New Zealand curriculum?

Professional Learning

I did my teaching diploma at Waikato University. Whilst on practicum in a city school during my studies I observed the range of children from different ethnic backgrounds. My associate teacher informed me about the range of cultural backgrounds and their beliefs they lived by. It was important to learn about all the students’ culture. There were different things you had to consider. In some cultures it was a sign of disrespect if you touched their heads, some cultures only ate certain food groups too, therefore, I had to ensure I was applying the code of ethics in my own practice. It definitely goes to show that relationships do need to be formed between people of different cultures so that there is an understanding about the two, and we are all seen as equal no matter our beliefs and values.

We all determine how culture is viewed. Nevertheless, we need to remember to not only share our views of culture but to understand others culture too. All learners should be treated as equal as should their cultures.

Are we being culturally responsive and culturally responsible?

REFERENCES

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Practice. (2018) (p. 12). Retrieved from http://www.niusileadscape.org/docs/pl/culturally_responsive_pedagogy_and_practice/activity2/Culturally%20Responsive%20Pedagogy%20and%20Practice%20Module%20academy%202%20%20Slides%20Ver%201.0%20FINAL%20kak.pdf

Little, W., & McGivern, R. (n.d.). Chapter 11. Race and Ethnicity – Introduction to Sociology – 1st Canadian Edition. (2018). Opentextbc.ca. Retrieved 23 March 2018, from https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology/chapter/chapter11-race-and-ethnicity/

Week 29 - SOCIAL INTERCONNECTEDNESS

According to the English Oxford Living Dictionary (Social networking | Definition of social networking in English by Oxford Dictionaries, 2018), Social Network is the use of dedicated websites and applications to interact with other users or to find people with similar interests to one's own.

Image: Advantages and disadvantages of Social Networks by Youth Portal Retrieved 21 March 2018 from http://www.youthvillage.co.za/2013/10/advantages-disadvantages-social-networks/

Social online networking communities have been around for many years. Thus, involvement and interaction have increased over the years. There is a lot of support in inviting people into these online communities and the benefits of social online networking is far greater. Technology just keeps evolving and new online social networking communities and sites are being created and are easily accessed.

Online social networking is used to connect with friends, family, work colleagues and new people. They are utilized to communicate and share ideas, invite responses, and support and create discussions. Our social circles once known as the community we lived in has been transformed by the digital world allowing us to be globally connected through social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Blogger and many more. Social networks offer the potential to support us in our professional learning by communicating with like-minded people. We all know how that works just look at all of us participating and contributing in our Mind Lad Post Grad Community.

Teaching Digital Citizenship

As teachers, we need to teach our students about cyber safety and to encourage safe usage on the internet in order to develop culturally situated learning experiences for our learners and ourselves. I introduced blogging to students in my classroom last year. When we blog, whether in or out of school, communication encourages discussions in many ways. Once you start to blog and that information/thought/conversation becomes public, it will then take on a life of its own by creating a ripple effect of continual learning (Utecht, 2017). The ways in which blogging helped my learners to develop their own personal voice benefitted me as an educator. They had ownership, they were creative, communicated, participated and contributed to an online community, and expressed themselves freely using tools at the click of a button. There are many opportunities for learners to blog. I feel I have experienced more successes than failures through allowing my learners to blog in the classroom. 

As digital learning shapes our lives, teaching and learning practices must move with the times. While there are concerns about cyberbullying we still must address the need for teaching and developing our learners' online experiences, providing them with a safe and enjoyable one. This link to The Education Council (2018), provides some excellent information and resources in regards to the code of ethics for teachers and its relationship with social media.

Social media provides the pathway for us to connect our students with the global world, people and places far beyond their school and home environment. Networks such as Google Community and Facebook are used to expand our discussions, provide us with answers to queries we may have about our teaching practice and audiences.

It is all about building relationships outside of our home and work environment (school), communicating with like-minded people, and having awareness about what is happening in the world, being aware of the global issues. We not only use the internet for communicating with others but to view the ideas of others because as we all know why reinvent the wheel when ideas and resources are shared to use. By using social networks, we can explore many possibilities and contribute our own perspectives, thoughts and ideas to real life issues. 

Social online networking is all about the rich experiences we have. In addition, if used correctly social networking would be a powerful tool for your learners who can engage in critical discussion with other people both near and far. They can make the most of the opportunities to inquire about the big wide world seeking information and answers to feed their curiosity.

What opportunities are you providing your learners with to engage in ‘Social Networking?’ 

REFERENCES

Education Council (2018). Teachers and social media. Retrieved March 16, 2018 from https://www.teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/

Social networking | Definition of social networking in English by Oxford Dictionaries. (2018). Oxford Dictionaries | English. Retrieved 21 March 2018, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/social_networking

Utecht, J. (2007). Blogs aren’t the enemy: How Blogs enhance learning. Technology & Learning, 27, 32-34.

Week 28 - COPYRIGHT OR COPY RIGHT!!

 

Image: A Guide For Legally Using Images On The Web by Patkar Mihir. (2013) Retrieved from https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/concerned-copyright-guide-legally-using-images-web/

 

Ever run into problems trying to access work of others and not being able to because of a certain Research Commons or a Copyright Act. I have! I’m sure we all have faced these problems at some stage in our educational journey, these are called ethical problems. I enjoy sharing resources I have made and resources I have obtained from others (with their verbal permission), and there is the resource mainframe with the click of a button, our good friend the internet. My thinking is why ‘reinvent the wheel’ it makes sense to me to share what we have in order to save other teachers and educators time to look for it online or creating it themselves. Does this sound like you too?

Unbelievably there are many who think like us but we do need to be aware of what we are sharing to ensure there aren’t any copyright or research commons noted on the resources. To be honest I don’t understand why people share their resources if they are not willing to actually SHARE their resources. I understand some sell their resources online or have a business/ organization to sustain but sometimes it feels like resources are being dangled in front of your face taunting you, buy me and save time on creating your own. Do we really want to spend hundreds of dollars? I’m not too sure about you but if I had to buy all my resources I probably would be broke.

So let us now talk about creating our own educational resources. I soon discovered in my second year as a beginner teacher that all the resources that I had created in my own time, for my classroom, belonged to the school. That is where I learned about a Creative Commons Policy. I was very fortunate as the school Principal and Board of Trustees allowed me to take all resources I owned and had created. 

Never thought you would ever break the law. Elizabeth Heritage (2015) writes “There is currently a major problem with copyright in education.” It seems that many of us may have because we are unaware of the circumstances. Our employers hold the copyrights to all our resources that we create whilst in their employment.Without permission from the board to take our resources with us, we are breaking the law. But wait! Even though this seems like a barrier it can easily be overcome by creating a Creative Commons policy with your school.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons Aotearoa is a non-profit organization that helps people share their copyright works for reuse by others. They also provide some fantastic resources and tips to inform your school to learn how to create their own Creative Commons licensing that’s if you haven’t already one in place. These can be found by clicking on the link Creative Commons Aotearoa NZ.

In all my years of teaching, I have worked hard in creating my own stack of resources and building onto them adding more as I learn with my students and teach them, and obtain resources from colleagues and friends. And, I’m sure you all have too! But just to be safe, ensure you talk with your school Principal or the Board of Trustees, or create a policy that allows you to take your resources with you. Otherwise, your hard work and energy put into them may have been a waste of time. 

What are your thoughts on such an ethical dilemma that occurs worldwide?

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REFERENCES

Creative Commons Aotearoa NZ. (2014). Creative Commons in Schools. Retrieved 13 March 2018, from http://creativecommons.org.nz/ccinschools/

 

Heritage, E. (2015). How Schools Can Share OERs – Legally – NZ Commons. Creative Commons Aotearoa. Retrieved 16 March 2018, from http://nzcommons.org.nz/share-oers-legally/

 

Ministry of Education. (2016) Know your copy-rights! Retrieved 19 March 2018, from http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/Articles/Article.aspx?ArticleId=9224

COMMUNITIES, WHEREFORE ART THOU COMMUNITIES? (Week19)

Whatever form our participation takes, most of us are familiar with the experience of belonging to a community of practice” (Wenger et al. 2002, p. 5).

Wenger, McDermott & Snyder (2002) state that the purpose of a Community of Practice (CoP) is to create, expand and exchange knowledge to develop individual capabilities. Cohesiveness is maintained through passion, commitment, shared interests, goals and knowledge.

A community of practice is also based on joint enterprise, shared repertoire and mutual engagement.

                                

Figure 1. Wenger's Dimensions of practice as the property of a community (Wenger, 1998)

In education, we are driven by knowledge, interaction and goals, and there is the need for more efficient and effective outcomes. Two issues apparent in my professional practice were strengthening ‘communication’ between my learners and home, and ‘collaboration’ between staff members using digital ICT tools.

Blogging – A communication tool

I encountered blogging in my first year of teaching. I found through blogging I had some very stimulating conversations with like-minded people and there was a lot of support around teaching.

I discovered that bloggers are influencers and receivers of influences. My learners relished the learning opportunities blogging offered and they could communicate their ideas and learning to parents, whānau and the wider community in a variety of ways through speaking, visual or even multimodal communication. Just as we are all blogging now.

Utecht (2007) summed it up perfectly:

When we blog, whether in or out of school, communication encourages debate in many venues. It can happen at a staff meeting, in the classroom, or even over dinner. Once you start to blog and that information/thought/conversation becomes public, it begins to take on a life of its own, moving in multiple directions, thus creating a ripple effect of continual learning” (p.33).

Staff Notebook – A collaborative tool

 Our Nuhaka School motto is - ‘Kotahitanga – Strive together’. According to van Laar, van Deursen, van Dijk & de Haan, (2017) collaboration is about the skills to use ICT to develop a social network in a team to exchange information, negotiate agreements, and make decisions with mutual respect for each other towards achieving a common goal or vision. Staff Notebook is the vehicle for collaboration between work colleagues but the focus I have for Staff Notebook is more towards our professional practice. 

Figure 2. Components of a social theory of learning (Wenger)

Through both tools – Blogging and Staff Notebook, according to Wegner’s model we are learning through doing and using the tools, we are part of these communities of practice, our identities are portrayed through our beliefs and views we hold dear to, and we learn from the experiences and responses/feedback from others. Further inquiry on these topics and leading using these tools allowed me to take a leadership role in sharing my knowledge with colleagues and supporting them too.

I think all communities of practice are meaningful depending on the situation, goals and the intended outcomes. Some of my meaningful community practices at this time are of course Wairoa Mind Lab, teaching at Nuhaka School and my own classroom of learners. I think we are all looking for ways to improve our own learning and teaching through continuous interaction within these communities.

Being part of communities of practice is much better than being isolated and dealing with challenges by yourself. Just prepare yourself to be questioned, challenged and in some cases criticised by others within a community. It’s through these interactions that our beliefs or views might change due to the influence of others, or we remain ‘stubborn’ and steer clear of change.

Is change necessary in order for survival in education? What are your thoughts?

 

References

Benjamin Franklin Quote [Image]. Retrieved 15 December 2017, from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3c/d1/83/3cd183678da41bf3e6403efdbf79c37e.jpg

Components of a social theory of learning [Image]. Retrieved 15 December 2017, from http://silenceandvoice.com/2009/08/05/interview-questions-based-on-wengers-cop-framework/

Dimensions of practice as the property of a community [Image]. Retrieved 16 December 2017, from https://www.researchgate.net/figure/41557795_fig1_Figure-1-Dimensions-of-practice-as-the-property-of-a-community-Wenger-1998-p73

Utecht, J. (2007). Blogs aren’t the enemy: How Blogs enhance learning. Technology & Learning, 27, 32-34.

van Laar, E., van Deursen, A., van Dijk, J., & de Haan, J. (2017). The relation between 21st-century skills and digital skills: A systematic literature review. Computers In Human Behavior, 72, 577-588.

Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

TIMES ARE CHANGING (Week 18)

Times are Changing

What might the world look like in 10 years? Who knows? We can only guess, make assumptions about the challenges that may arise, and think about what learning will be relevant in the future. However, I find it hard picturing what future-oriented learning and teaching in the future may look like. How can we base our ideologies on the future in order to provide change? The world is ever changing. However, does that imply that those learners who were educated in the 90’s, their learning is of no relevance now? Alternatively, is that part of the ongoing inquiry cycle in education, trying to improve education systems, catering for the needs of today’s learners?

Future-oriented learning and teaching. What does this mean exactly? I think what stands out for me is equipping learners with the skills they need for the 21^st Century, more importantly nurturing the diverse needs, culture, religions and beliefs of learners.

It has been argued that students need, among other things, opportunities to build their sense of identity, become self-reliant, critical and creative thinkers, and be able to use initiative, be team players and be able to engage in ongoing learning throughout their lives. (Ministry of Education, 2012). Throughout our Mind Lab journey we were provided with a range of digital tools, apps and learning programmes. I introduced them to my learners in class to encourage them to be innovative, to collaborate, to create, to think, and to problem solve. These are all qualities/attributes mentioned in our school vision for our Nuhaka School citizens (learners). The use of laptops and digital devices in my classroom has been very beneficial as my learners can access information at the click of a button. Personal information management (PIM) is relevant to today’s children, as they too search the Internet to gather useful information for various tasks. For that information to be used in a meaningful way, children should be able to organize and reproduce it with effective tools to suit their needs (Yeo & Lee, 2013). My learners loved the shared digital tools, didn’t take their curious minds long to figure out how to work some of the them.  

Figure 1. A Diverse Society

Educated for diversity, education in diversity

There is that whole notion and need to equip learners for the 21^st century as diversity in education is a recurring issue throughout the education system. I don’t think we are always able to cater to all the diverse needs of learners nevertheless, we do our best trying.

A second idea that commonly comes up in discussions of equity/diversity and 21st century learning is that 21st century citizens need to be educated for diversity—in both the people sense and the knowledge/ideas sense. Our world as we know it requires people to engage—and be able to work—with people from cultural, religious and/or linguistic backgrounds or worldviews that are very different from their own (Ministry of Education, 2012, p.3). When I attended my local rural school back in the 90’s there were only Maori and European tamariki at school. Indifferently secondary school and then tertiary was bit of a culture shock. There were many people from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds.  I feel it is important that our learners are educated about others culture, and to be mindful of others beliefs, religions and views. Only through a multicultural education I feel children will be able to reach their full potential.

All education activities take place within a cultural context. There are four concepts, manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, ako and mahi tahi, which have the power to transform the learning environment for students (Bishop, O'Sullivan, & Berryman, 2010). These four concepts reflect diversity and encourage diversity.

What would it be like in the future? No one knows what the future has install for us. Nevertheless, we can only prepare, and reshape the way we think and reflect, in order to move forward into the future.

What type of learners do we want to help shape for better futures – for us all?

Figure 2. Future Education

References

A Diverse Society [Image]. Retrieved 14 December 2017, from  https://sites.google.com/site/strategiesforell/cover-page

Bishop, R., O'Sullivan, D, & Berryman, M. (2010). Scaling up education reform: The politics of disparity. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Education Research.

Future Education [Image]. Retrieved 14 December 2017, from https://www.slideshare.net/mbrownz/higher-education-for-the-future-infusing-digital-learning-in-institutional-culture

Ministry of Education. (2012). Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/109306

Yeo, H., & Lee, Y. (2013). Exploring new potentials of blogs for learning: Can children use blogs for     personal information management (PIM)?. British Journal Of Educational Technology, 45(5), 916-925.