Education reform

Congratulations to Education Minister Chris Hipkins for embarking on an overhaul of Tomorrow’s Schools (Big reforms coming, Tomorrow’s Schools will be yesterday’s news, Feb 21).

This will be a long-term and complex effort, good luck to him.

National Standards is a good place to start the change. Teachers and parents had strenuously argued that children are not standardised products and that competition would not enhance quality of learning.

When the Government overrode these objections, parents saw precious time at school dominated by numeracy and literacy, measured in ways to make comparisons between children and schools.

Little time was left for other areas of learning where New Zealand education had excelled, which are needed for successful 21st century living – science, arts, social studies, health and physical education.

Assessment became a goal, rather than a constructive tool to improve teaching and learning. Teachers found their precious time with children taken up with assessing and recording, rather than conversations with children that lead to sound learning.

Recent independent research – such as Martin Thrupp’s The Search For Better Educational Standards, A Cautionary Tale – has chronicled the unfortunate outcomes of National Standards, and challenges future governments to encourage diversity to flourish again, and value the uniqueness of each child.