Kerikeri High School

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  New teacher: It was a real highlight from me as a new teacher to KeriKeri High School to be invited to the training Hui at Te Tii Marae at the beginning of the year. The staff worked together for three days – all focused on ways of improving learning outcomes for Māori students. I was immediately involved in the project, welcomed by the staff and I knew from day one that I was going to be supported in my new role by the Te Kotahitanga team.

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  Joan, Principal: When I meet with the facilitation team weekly, it's very much a meeting of equals. We sit down together and we analyse data and we share the leadership role. It's about each of us knowing what we are bringing to the project and each of us being a leader within our own right in the project. For me it’s been very empowering to be part of such a supportive team.

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  Facilitators: We see ourselves as an important part of the overall Te Kotahitanga team. We support the teacher in the classroom, we provide feedback based on objective data and we bring our professional knowledge to this role as we work closely with Russell Bishop's research team. We ensure that we all talk about students as we would like people to talk about our own children, we look for strategies to support them and relevant solutions. We feel privileged to have this vital role as we act as the glue that joins the team.

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  History teacher: I was a bit unsure about being observed at the beginning, but now I really value the feedback and the feedforward that I get. For example after my last observation the facilitator fed back how I used a student's prior knowledge successfully and how I incorporated that as an authentic part of the lesson. She could tell me through her observations about the level of discussion my students were having and gave me a clear idea about the changes in my teaching practices from a traditional to a discursive model. We discussed the next step together. I really value that.

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  Student: I think it's great to be a Māori student in this project because there is a lot more focus on me and I find it easier to concentrate. There are lots of group activities and that makes learning a lot more fun.

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  Group member: Being part of the co-construction group is a powerful experience for me. I can share my thoughts about a student and discuss strategies with my colleagues. I pick up lots of new ideas to help me in my teaching. For example, I listened to my colleague speak about how he explains biodiversity to the students through discussion about the student's own experiences and using their own terms and vocabulary. The facilitator, who is part of the group, listens to our discussion and helps us form useful strategies to enhance student learning. I really appreciate this professional feedback as that didn’t happen before.

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