$300m ‘communities of learning’ a flop

AUCKLAND: Most teachers believe a $300 million initiative designed to increase collaboration between schools has flopped, a new survey has found.

The survey — the first national report on a tool for teachers to rate their schools anonymously — has found that teachers are overwhelmingly positive about most aspects of their schools. For example, 84% feel they ‘‘work in a safe and supportive environment’’.

But only 34% of teachers in ‘‘communities of learning’’, which were set up by the former National government to increase collaboration between schools, believe the communities are strengthening their own teaching.

Only 40% say the communi ties of learning have even given them ‘‘opportunities to collaborate with other teachers’’.

Berhampore School principal Mark Potter, who represented the NZ Educational Institute (NZEI) on an advisory group for the survey tool, said the communities were not working because the system was imposed on schools by the Education Ministry.

‘‘It was not designed for communities to collaborate. It was designed for one entity, the Ministry of Education, to impose its ideas on what schools should be doing.’’

The communities were the flagship of a National government initiative, ‘‘Investing for Educational Success’’, which was originally budgeted at $359 million over four years — although the budget was underspent because the communities were slow to form.

The 214 communities approved so far cover 1761 of the country’s 2482 state and integrated schools, with 610,024 children.

However, Mr Potter said the Education Ministry had to approve which schools joined communities, who led them, and their goals or ‘‘achievement challenges’’. Once achievement challenges were approved, communities were funded to appoint skilled teachers to work across and within schools to achieve their challenges.

‘‘Across NZEI and PPTA (Post Primary Teachers Association), we’d rather you put that money into special education than into paying a few teachers to go around telling other teachers how to do their job,’’ Mr Potter said. — NZME