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Showing posts from August, 2024

Education in Aotearoa - the fairy tale we are being fed and the fairy tale we need.

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Maybe it's the English teacher in me, but I can't help coming back to two fairy tales when I think about what is going on in education in Aotearoa at the moment. One fairy tale we seem to be currently living through, 'Chicken Little' and one fairy tale we could very dearly learn from 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'.  Part One: Chicken Little and Maths education in NZ - There's no crisis like a manufactured crisis!   The fairy tale of Chicken Little, also known as "Henny Penny" or "The Sky is Falling," tells the story of a small, fearful chicken who is struck on the head by a falling acorn. Mistaking the acorn for a piece of the sky, Chicken Little believes that the sky is falling and sets out to warn the king. Along the way, Chicken Little meets other animals like Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky, and Goosey Loosey, who join the journey to alert the king. However, they are eventually deceived by a clever fox, Foxy Loxy, who invites them into his