Hiranga- to compete or not to compete...that is the question [insert strive for excellence where it says compete]

 Today I met with our Whakapono group. It's a group of 8 or 9 Year 7/8 students that one of us, SLT, will meet with on a weekly basis for some kind of mentoring, and the social and emotional growth (we hope).

Each week we'll use the value of the week, i.e. the value from WHAKAPONO school values to explore various topics of interest or current issues- for these learners, our school, or what's going on in the world around us at the moment. The approach is one of Talanoa or Wananga- these learners had a basic understanding of those concepts, and I simply put it, that it's about talking...allowing ourselves to talk about issues without trying to be right, but just being open to what comes out of those conversations. 

Today we considered Hiranga- Striving for Excellence. The group was presented with the issue that the board has to consider, i.e. one group of parents are saying sports for primary aged kids should just be about participation, and one are saying sports needs to be about giving our kids opportunities for competition. The key points that came out of our talanoa included:

• Agreement that for younger kids the focus should be on participation- getting them involved, seeing what they liked, not worrying about winning so much, having fun and with their friends;
• But as kids get older, they need to push themselves, keep learning, work out that even when you try your best you may not win that time

Some interesting points and questions came up during our talanoa:

• Is competition a bad thing? If not, then when can it become unhealthy?
• What does competing or striving for excellence do for us/ people?
• What would happen if we removed competition altogether from sports? 
• When is it appropriate not to compete?

While our time was brief (20 mins) I still enjoyed engaging in the talanoa (even if some were still warming up to the idea that we're going to be talking with Mrs J or Mr Rungan or another SLT member about these things). Preparing for this session, made me think about the function of challenges or adding that element of 'striving for excellence' , i.e. when we continuously look to improve, it actually helps sustain the current practice, and build upon this/ take it further. I guess not striving leads to (or can be a result of perhaps?) complacency. Complacency- being in a comfortable place...so comfortable that there's a danger of never finding out what else is out there and how much more amazing that could be.

Today I also was reminded from our talanoa that if we don't push ourselves:

• We might not grow, learn, or get stronger;
• We deny ourselves of the opportunity to engage with others, have fun and learn alongside them;
• We might just become stagnant, and worse still stuck in that comfortable place
• We're supposed to continually strive to make this world and ourselves a better place, a better people.

I think this is a word for me too- both personally and professionally. Tama tū, Tama ora- keep being active in my learning, and it will give life to myself and the mahi I'm called to do. Don't settle, but remember to keep things in check too- don't strive to the point where you forget why you are playing that game in the first place (to have fun, do life with good people, learn and grow as a person etc).

Thanks to Sara, Tauilo, Johmandah, Iyannah, Asenati, Siautu, and Shanti for helping me to think about my thinking! I hope that I/ we (SLT) can return the favour as we continue these sessions.

Which transformer or agent of change was I this year?

 

Notes to share at PLD sessions:

So much transformation/ changes.

At  times this year, all of these applied to me. 

Going into lockdown- mother diagnosed, moved parents to Auckland, one daughter just engaged, other daughter pregnant and needing care. 

Study wasn't top priority with family's wellbeing needs

What you think you're setting out to transform, might not always work out in the way you imagined.

Sometimes things happen to transform you, and it's usually for your good anyway.

Thankful during this lockdown that I didn't have to be in the hot seat- realised the pressure of the decision making, constant sifting through and disseminating information, processing own emotions and being aware of others and the morale of people as you navigate leading remotely. I would watch the updates and feel a sense of relief I didn't need to do anything further once they'd finished.

Leading in these times- damned if you do, damned if you don't. High stakes stuff and you just have to do your best with what you have and know at the time.

Self care, so you can care for your loved ones.

I can see transformation of SLT. Thinking how to transition back to role, and continue to support growth/ transformation (and get/stay out of their way too when I need to🤣).

Day 1 DFI Reflection

Day 1. Don't judge me (advice to myself, and maybe anyone else reading this post).

 I'm glad there is a mute button, so no one could hear my choice of words today. The F in DFI... was for frustrating- not with the professional development, but just with myself. The way in which I've got my work google set-up needs to be sorted so that everything is more streamlined....but I'll get this sorted and I'm sure this will help me the next time we have DFI. 

Apart from frustrated, I also think F was also for fantastic. Fantastic because I learnt lots of really handy tips about the use of G Suite tools, some of which I thought I knew well. Was I wrong or what?! 

It was good to hear again the story of Manaiakalani, and the thing that stuck out for me is that it is a story about people. A story for people. And one day, I hope my school community can be just one new chapter in that awesome story. 

I think one of the biggest takeaways for me today would be how to better manage my files. How to name them and organise them, so that if Marie Kondo rocked up (online) and hacked into my Google Drive, she would be impressed. I guess I should also remember that Marie Kondo also reminds us when letting go of old ways, things, habits, is that we should embrace that, thank it for what it gave us, and then let it go with gratitude. 

Some things I learnt  about today that could be used with my learners, including the adult learners in our school, includes: the voice typing tool, how to create headings and table of contents (I'm going to use both of those myself with my studies this year);  what explorer is (who knew that star at the bottom of my google doc pages was so handy?!), and some of the tips in our 'Create' activity, to encourage ourselves as we think about task design, and how these tools can support that mahi in our kura. 

I'm glad I signed up for DFI this term, as even though it's a juggle with my studies, it's also going to help me with them as well.

Thanks to the facilitating team for a cool start to the DFI journey. 

Nau mai, haere mai ki tēnei taonga

 Welcome to my professional learning blog.

This is a place where I can reflect on my teaching in relation to my

Professional Growth Cycle

and how they link to the Education Council's

Standards for the Teaching Profession