Paving the way May 12, 2010
International education consultant James Harrison believes society and education are too far separated from one another. In his vision of what is possible for the next generation, the wider community - including businesses - would play a much greater role in creating young people with a skillset to last them a lifetime.
James uses the scenario of school work experience days as an example of what's wrong with the current approach to education. Sending students to a company for a day to learn about the work in that company is, he says, at worst an upheaval, and at best a totally artificial experience.
"It doesn't give a chance for the youngster to have a real perspective on what's going on and time to absorb the subtleties of the real world."
The problem according to James is that the real world is all about subtleties, where people are posed with a range of problems that require a range of solutions, not just solutions from single subjects like science, maths, english or geography.
"Our lives and our roles are not one dimensional - they are multi dimensional. To have an education system which is isolated from that by and large is, I think, very limited."
James has recently written a curriculum for the East Manchester Academy, a new secondary school in the UK. While acknowledging that the recently revised New Zealand curriculum is becoming more skills focused, his concern is that it remains convergent, in that it has an outcome that is predefined. He believes that to create learners for life in our complicated society, we need to have opportunities for divergent learning - with discovery of things along the way that become significant to us individually.
Businesses, James says, could help by providing youngsters with an opportunity to interact in a more active way than they do at the moment, for example "ghost projects" where children work with local businesses on real projects or activities, giving them the chance to suggest novel solutions to real problems.
He believes primary schools are more on the right track than secondary in terms of holistic integration of activities, acknowledgement of the benefits of having one teacher cover most subjects, of having children working in groups rather than working individually, of integrating topics and of having the opportunity and time to do more exciting projects.
Even further along the continuum towards the ideal James is supportive of, is the Maori immersion school philosophy, whereby kura (schools) follow Te Aho Matua - a philosophy based on Maori values, principles and practices.
"I think that they have got some advantages through virtue of having a more holistic culture and view of people. The missing link right now in mainstream education is that everything is 'out there' - it's not part of who you are and what your take is on things."
The Building Intelligence Group have just delivered a Maori immersion school in Mairangi Bay which opened in May - Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Te Raki Paewhenua - and enjoyed the opportunity to think outside the square of mainstream education.
Delivering the Kura was very much about challenging the status quo and coming up with solutions for the future rather than the past, says general manager of The Building Intelligence Group's Auckland office, Gareth Skirrow.
Part of that "future-proofing" meant ensuring the buildings were designed in such a way that they can be adapted and extended as the Kura's role grows. Gareth also believes there is good potential for the children at the Kura to be involved in the design of that expansion in a way that reflects James' philosophy of project-based learning.
The Building Intelligence Group are proud to have delivered a facility where tamariki (children) can learn in an emotionally intelligent way that provides culturally appropriate learning contexts, Gareth says. He adds that it has also been a learning experience for the company, opening their outlook on what education is all about, and providing insights into the kaupapa Maori education sector.
"We ourselves have gone through a journey, and have learnt things which we can apply in other contexts."