From classroom to cockpit
THREE Southland teachers left their classrooms for a week to take part in a ‘‘hands on’’ immersive experience at the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Central Southland College’s Alister Gray, Otatara School’s Sarah Lovell and Windsor North School’s Andrew Barnett, were three of 41 teachers from throughout the country who took part in The School to Skies Edternship in Auckland last month.
The programme aimed to help them broaden, develop, prototype and test realworld learning with the support of the RNZAF, 21C Skills Lab and external learning coaches.
Mr Gray believed the programme was to change the traditional education model.
Activities included learning how to land a plane in a flight simulator, assembling a plane and being part of a search and rescue mission to develop skills such as resilience, teamwork and collaboration.
‘‘The reason for us being there as teachers, was to try to look to teaching with a different perspective because big employers . . . want kids who are resilient and know how to work as a team and to manage,’’ Mr Gray said.
‘‘They want change away from credits and defining a person only by the marks they get at school.’’
The trio said the experience was unique and they would take lessons back to their schools.