Law, regulations and/or policy impact on teacher inquiry

Discuss how aspects of law, regulations and/or policy impact on teacher inquiry

Inquiry topic: Writing 

What is happening: Using Seesaw for inquiry to ensure that all learners have a place to become a

21st while doing writing.

How is it working: It is so far working well.  I would like to focus on lifting them in writing.  But more

importantly become more self reliant.  

How am I feeling: I am excited to see where I can go with this.

The Community: The Year 1 students staff that participated in Mindlab.

Building upon getting parents involved in the program (SeeSaw for writing). Plus, the stakeholders in

the school grounds to see a progression to implement in the whole school.

Understanding: What can I do to make this easier for my colleagues in the year  1 class?

One of the main statutes that will be discussed first is the Education Act 1989.  This Act signified the

introduction of Tomorrow Schools which shifted substantial financial and administrative

responsibilities for managing schools, to elected boards of trustees.  Roberts (2008) points out that

the politics of education can be seen in the layout of the classroom, in the relationships between

teachers and students, in the teaching methods employed, in decisions about what is and is not

taught, in the policies and laws to which teachers and students are subject, in the forms of

assessment and evaluation applied and in the funding and resources for educational initiatives. This

supports the idea that laws apply to teachers everyday classroom practice, especially the Education

Act 1989.  

As school x teacher, I participated in the weekly Professional Development workshops.  The theme

for the workshops was based around Writing using SeeSaw. Teachers had selected work from their

target students to evaluate and to discuss ideas on how to give effective feedback.  This workshop

was run by Vision Education and was intended to lift achievement of target students. How was this

need for professional development for writing identified? Under Section 61 of the Education Act

1989, it stipulates that a school charter must include the board’s aims, objectives, directions,

priorities, and target student achievement, including the assessment of students against any

national standard published under section 60A(1)(ba).  In the Charter of school x they have clearly

outlined their annual targets for 2016 in Mathematics, Reading and writing.  This charter is very

specific as it includes the baseline data, the expected outcomes, and the actions needed to achieve

these outcomes.  In the annual target for writing, one of the expected outcomes was to shift 6

students in each of the 17 classes identified BELOW the national standard to AT National Standard. 

The school actioned this by having professional development sessions for teachers as well as

having those 6 target students work with a specialist from Vision literacy team. The team will track

and lift these students academically to AT the National standard. 

As a beginning teacher, it has become clear that the importance of the strategic plan/school charter

is like a compass that guides teachers to reach the school’s overall objectives. The school charter of

school x included the National Education Goals (NEGS) and the National Administration Guidelines

(NAGS). These NAGS and NEGS follow the Education Act 1989 under section 60A.

The Education Act 1989 continues to govern the way we teach in New Zealand.

References:

Hall, A. (2008). Professional responsibility and teacher ethics. In C. McGee & D. Fraser (Eds.),

         The professional practice of teaching (3rd ed.). Melbourne, Vic., Australia: Cengage  

         Learning. 

New zealand school trustees association, N.Z.S.T.A. (2016). Nzstaorgnz. Retrieved 10

November, 2016, from http://www.nzsta.org.nz/employer-role/employment-conditions/code-of-conduct

Roberts, P. (2008). Teaching as an ethical and political process: A Freirean perspective. In V. 

        Carpenter, J. Jesson, P. Roberts & M. Stepthenson (Eds.), Ngā kaupapa here: Connections 

        and contradictions in education (pp. 99-108). Melbourne, Vic., Australia: Cengage Learning.