Claire Amos

Photo Source Yesterday saw the announcement of a new government which came with a raft of new policies and ministerial appointments. The Minister of Education, as was expected, is National MP Erica Stanford. More interestingly was the number of policies and priorities two parties who only collectively gained 15.5% of the votes managed to get across the line.  The common threads across both Act and NZ First included some good old-fashioned back-to-basics, a focus on compulsory attendance and cracking down on truancy, increased focus on academic achievement and shifting the fees-free policy from the first of uni to the last. To be fair, none of these represent much of a departure from what National was touting anyway.  The interesting and, at times, worrying changes suggest Luxon was willing to let both Act and NZ First foist their ideologies on innocent schools and students for the sake of a "strong and stable" government.  Unsurprisingly Act got Partnership Schools across the

Chris and David discussing the joy of testing. Whilst we are still awaiting the outcome of special votes, it is pretty safe to assume that we are staring down the barrel of a National / Act Party government that will be bringing a very distinct flavour to the education landscape. Below is an outline of what each party promised for education.  Front and centre is a focus on "back to basics" and what looks like a whole lot more standardisation (from both National and Act) and testing to ensure we are all "teaching the basics brilliantly". Those of us in schools know that standardisation isn't necessarily the answer and testing didn't seem to turn the dial in the past either. That is the trouble when policies are designed to satisfy parent voters who just want their kids back in school and succeeding.  In their 100-day plan, National is promising to do the following in the education space: Require primary and intermediate schools to teach one hour a day each of

X link: https://twitter.com/michelledennis Types of AI - vision speech, language, search, decision Source: https://inclusioncloud.com/insights/blog/azure-cognitive-services/ Source: https://ai4k12.org/ Every time you interact with AI you are training the AI and making it better. Showed a number of images getting listeners to choose which photos are real people and which are generated, highlighting how hard it is to to pick. Showed the results showing the same prompt being used a year apart and showing how much AI has already evolved and improved. Showing AI-created video, currently short and have to pay for service but this will change soon. ChatGPT and friends - ChatGPT is growing the most quickly. Talked about prompts and the ways you iterate improving and updating responses. ChatGPT - lowered the level of skill needed to get responses. Low threshold to use it but suggests needing to understand some of the ways it works. ChatGPT Vision - now breaks down images into words. Example - u

From the programme: Kristen will explore the contemporary approaches to workforce well-being and considerations for future leaders focusing on: • How to socially, emotionally, and relationally lead staff • Building trust and connection • Feeding your culture with intention • Careful conversation not corrosive conversations, and • Getting back to deep listening. “Are you a thermostat or a thermometer? One changes the temperature but the other merely measures it”. (Planetshakers 2021) Link to website: https://headspace.org.au/ Supporting humans through adversity. Headlines for today: Schools are complex ecosystems and micro-leadership behaviours play a powerful role It takes a village to raise a child and communities start in schools It is critical to connect people for regulation, safety and balance Leaders must be able to lead individuals and entire communities - these are different skills Being in balance is the very core of individual and community function Principals as ecosystem en

A focus on leadership & well-being amidst great challenges and opportunities. From the programme: While previously considered a profession that offers a balanced lifestyle, more recently the education sector has gone through a steady professionalisation and a stagnation in the lifestyle benefits it can offer. As the responsibility of teachers continues to grow, and emerging interest in the profession declines, schools and the education sector more broadly must appropriately respond to the current and future needs of educators. In this session Mark will provide a practical, data-driven and engaging guide to these education trends, how these massive shifts are changing the way in which students engage with their education, and teachers engage their students, and why work wellbeing is a non-negotiable for the future and how to achieve it. Demographic growth and change Australia's 2.2% annual growth rate More people and more students Internal migration Rise of the regions 60% have

Website: https://www.startwithhex.com/ From the website: Made For Gutsy Learners The rate of change in tech is exponential, but the rate of change in traditional education is kinda flat... So we hang out at the intersection of education and innovation, delivering a new kind of learning. We're all about experiences that are immersive, up-to-date, and based in the real world. 5000+ learners have loved our seriously fun virtual programs, study abroad experiences, and hackathon-style events. And they leave HEX with amazing confidence, skills and networks — as well as university accreditation. 2019 One-month runway Zero revenue forecast Team of seven staff Jobkeeper not yet announced Schools and students under pressure. COVID closed down the borders What would you think? How would you feel? What would you do? That time I cried at the kitchen table - choosing electives as a teenager and feeling like it was predetermining their entire career. 40% of CEOs know their business will be redund

These are rough and ready notes but great to see a traditional school taking the initiative to transform their school. Education doesn’t need to be reformed - it needs to be transformed! The key is not to standardise education but to personalise it. Prioritise the acquisition of skills over content. Community buy-in is needed. Started with staff, then students, then parents. What do we believe about how kids learn best? Conditions for powerful learning do not describe our current system. There is a major disconnect between what the research tells us and what we continue to do in schools. Provocations included OECD - Four Futures and the reality that we may not exist if we don’t change things. From the OECD: https://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/Brochure-Four-OECD-Scenarios-for-the-Future-of-Schooling.pdf Scenario 1 | Schooling extended Scenario 2 | Education outsourced Scenario 3 | Schools as Learning Hubs Scenario 4 | Learn-as-you-go Think Learning Studio was another source of provocat