Love from New Zealand:

Education for Excellence and Creativity

Chuing Prudence Chou

(Professor, Department of Education,National Cheng-Chi University, Taiwan)

Abstract

Going to school is enjoyable and rewarding

         In New Zealand, most schools open from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Students do not have too much homework after school so that they have time to engage in social activities and sports. Subject learning in the classroom is not the only part of school life. Moreover, children are taught how to live, how to plan their career, and how to take responsibilities for themselves in New Zealand while most Taiwanese students spend their long hours at school, to cram schools, on video games, and watching TV. New Zealand schools value all-rounded education rather than academic drilling. People might be wondering: What type of kids would Kiwi schools produce to prepare them for later competitive adult life? In fact, New Zealand primary and secondary students rank among the highest groups in world competitions. According to the OECD (2003) statistics, Kiwi students’ performance in math, reading, science and problem solving rank from 4^th to 10^th. The UNESCO also highly recommended New Zealand’s remarkable education system. In spite of academic achievement, Kiwi’s sports also outperform their counterparts in many ways. For example, New Zealand received 3 silver and 2 gold medals in 2004 Olympic Games in Athens despite her small population of less then 4 million. We can not wonder but ask why going to school can be as enjoyable and rewarding as in New Zealand? In answering these questions, Professor Chou from National Cheng-Chi University, Taiwan, provided her observations as follows.

From her books entitled “The Great Experiment of Taiwanese Education (1987-2003)” to “Love from New Zealand: Education for Excellence and Creativity”, Chou expressed her great concerns about Taiwanese current educational reform. After a comprehensive examination of Taiwanese reform policies and practices in education, Chou turned her research interest to New Zealand by unfolding her educational reform in the last 20 years with the hope for alternative experiences. Through many in-depth school visits and interviews, Chou composed 61 essays about the myths and realities of New Zealand schools. In so doing, Chou hoped to provide Taiwanese policy makers and the public with an alternative view from New Zealand.

In “Love from New Zealand”, the author tries to layout many scenarios from New Zealand education practices in which parents, teachers, schools and government collaborate with one another so that they can efficiently and effectively invest more time and resources into education. Every three years, each school is assessed by the NZ Education Review Office (ERO). Students’ achievement is not limited to obedience to teachers, having good test scores or achieving grades. What is more important is to see whether students make progress in a wide range of curriculum areas? Whether they can take initiatives, care about others and be self-responsible is a top priority. The Six-Thinking-Hats theory is widely adopted among primary and secondary teachers. The rationale behind this practice is to facilitate student’s high-order-thinking skills. It is also a priority to improve literacy and numeracy among students by checking whether students are interested in raising questions and solving problems in learning.

The biggest classroom

         Playgrounds, community parks, and the natural environment serve as learning sites for all children. New Zealand ranks 15^th among the most comfortable countries to live in. Not only a country full of beautiful landscapes, safe environment, and friendly people but also good infra-structure including excellent school campuses which impress visitors. It is the natural resources and environment that provide New Zealand students and teachers with broader visions and attitudes. Children love going to school where they can enjoy learning, playing with their peers, living without pressure, and exploring nature along with acquiring attitude, knowledge, and skills in the classroom. The sizes are not overwhelmingly large in most schools. The biggest primary school comprises less than 800 students in comparison with 3000 in another large secondary school. Most schools are equipped with a big field where children can run, play football, and engage in all kinds of outdoors activities. Playing, for Kiwi kids, is very important because it is a great opportunity for children to experience human development, peer interaction and problem solving. Regarding sports, most Kiwi parents insist that their children play sport activities for fun and enjoyment, instead of competing with others.

As a result of the current decile system from the Ministry of Education, many local schools depend on fund-raising from local communities to supplement their school budget. Fund-raising can also provide a golden opportunity for children and teachers to have teamwork and morale building. Children’s artwork, pottery craft and even orchestral performance can serve as programs to attract parents and communities to participate in school affairs. In addition, through these fund-raising activities, children not only increase their sense of belonging, but also acquire creativity and talents.

       Learning does not only take place in the classroom. Learning also occurs in many extra-curriculum activities, such as museum visits and train trips. These out-door activities can be regarded as great sources of lively learning experiences for children in which they are free to explore, experience and participate. School learning themes are interwoven with a wide variety of programs and activities. Usually an outdoor school visit is based on a school theme which integrates geography, astronomy, humanity and other subjects from school.

Super teachers full of talents

       Why do New Zealand children enjoy going to school? The answer is probably that not only is a school filled with lots of fun stuff but also with lots of interesting teachers. New Zealand teachers are very well prepared through teacher preparation programs and continuing in-service training. As a matter of fact, it is the philosophy and practice of “learning by doing” and “ learning by teaching” that helps teachers explore themselves in the long run, by engaging in sports, painting, artwork, drama and lots of fun activities. Although Taiwanese primary and secondary teachers receive solid salary and enjoy high social status, their attitudes are not as vibrant and positive as their New Zealand counterparts. The latter enjoy lively interaction with students in the classroom and undertake outdoor activities with professional confidence. School evaluation every three years and compulsory in-serve training enforces teacher’s motivation for professional growth.

Streaming and grouping are not uncommon in New Zealand schools where teachers are trying to meet different needs of children. The so-called “spinal curriculum design” also allows children to fully acquire knowledge and skills within certain school years even for those with learning difficulties. Lively teaching methods, respect for individuality, and encouragement for creativity are all school features in New Zealand. It is also the case in New Zealand where textbooks are not mandatory or the only source of learning. Most teachers will work together and make the best use of their rich resources and facilities at school to design their own curriculum, conduct instruction, and share ideas. For example, in an English class, a secondary teacher was trying to convey the theme entitled “how to express yourself with different ways”. In so doing, the teacher used the movie “Batman” to introduce multi-levels of language expression. The teacher grouped students into different pairs to allow more in-class discussion and seatwork. No specific textbook but many handouts were distributed in the whole session. In addition, subjects and teaching methods are also drawn from different walks of life which makes classroom teaching more real. Literacy and numeracy receive the priority in most primary schools, where communities and school libraries are accessible and supportive for children’s reading. New Zealand children are also outstanding in math and logic reasoning. Most primary and secondary teachers are encouraged to spend more time on numeracy and logic reasoning especially by introducing “5W&1H “(who, when, where, what, why, how) to facilitate teacher-student interaction. Most teachers will adopt different kinds of tools such as dice and toys to establish an environment for math computation and reasoning. High-order-thinking skills such as the “Six Thinking Hats” are also very common in most of the classrooms.

   In contrast with Taiwanese kids who suffer from high pressure from schools, New Zealand students have more freedom in their homework and assignments. Many New Zealand principals make sure that homework for primary kids will not exceed 30 minutes per day to allow children to have more time in social interaction with others. Most homework is arranged not for drill and practice, but for theme exploration, question development and information analysis. Not only at universities, but also in secondary and primary schools, teachers are dedicated to facilitating students’ thinking and synthesis abilities. Even the school performance sheets after each term will include test scores and learning attitude. In this respect, New Zealand follows the Chinese great master, Confucius’s great philosophy: “to teach with respect for individual differences and to instruct without discrimination”.

The World No.1 Education System

        It is necessary to have an in-depth understanding of the New Zealand school system and life style if parents want to send their children to this country. Deeply influenced by the British tradition, New Zealand children start going to school at the age of 5, then move up all the way to 6^th grade at primary level, two years at intermediate and 5 years of high school or college. Every public secondary school enjoys very much the same resources, in terms of facilities, teacher qualifications, and curriculum. The introduction of National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) in 2002 was to replace the earlier Bursary exam. NCEA is now the main tertiary education entrance exam which is divided into 4 levels and each secondary student can start sitting that exam from form 5 onward in secondary schools. The NCEA serves as an indicator for university major options as well as a job certificate and high school diploma. Parents can learn more information from the ERO website which will regularly provide schools with evaluation reports, including school location, the profile of the campus, teacher and student ratio, government funding, and school accountability.

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