Pedagogy Review at PHS

Over the last six months, I have been privileged to work with the Papakura Pedagogy Lead Team (PPLT) at Papakura High School on a project that aimed to ensure that the insights gained from our Covid experiences are incorporated into the 'new normal' of teaching and learning. Through the process of reviewing the existing pedagogy framework, I have gained a better understanding of this school's unique context, including what has happened in the last five years, future aspirations from a staff and community perspective, and some of the obstacles that stand in the way. 

Through fortnightly meetings, we have addressed each of the existing pedagogy focus areas, which are: Planning, Assessment for Learning, Culturally responsive teaching, High expectations, Adaptive expertise (differentiation) and Literacy. In response to the periods of learning from home necessitated by Auckland's lockdown, we also needed to incorporate 'Digital Pedagogy'. Although each of these dimensions are important to effective teaching, feedback from teachers indicated that the six existing pou were not well embedded and adding a 7th would create more confusion. I had also been struggling to gain traction with implementing the Manaiakalani Programme at PHS beyond the digital fluency level and hoped that this would be an opportunity to plant the seeds that might yield digitally transformed pedagogy.

By examining the existing strands, we have been able to synthesise the essence of effective teaching in the Papakura High School context. I have identified links to the Manaiakalani pedagogy and kaupapa throughout this process, so that the reworked Papakura Pedagogy is a framework of effective teaching that reflects the evidence-based principles of TMPO but has been grown from within PHS rather than imposed from beyond.

The final four pou have been introduced to staff and refined in response to their feedback. The PPLT will now shift our focus to leading professional learning and implementation so that the framework comes to life and is visible and embedded in every teaching and learning space of the school. The learning cycle at this stage comprises whole-staff meetings, critical friends hui and self-reflection. In time, we hope to include a cycle of observations and co-construction.