Devils, details, and dilemmas – some much-needed perspective on our education sector

As the education sector reels from another “back to basics” Government initiative directed at
an apparent problem with the teaching of mathematics in our primary schools, it’s time for
some much-needed perspective.

It’s clear that the way education sector changes are being introduced is proving very
challenging for those at the frontline of our schools – teachers and parents.

For a sector which has consultation and co-operation at its core, the prescriptive approach
and the speed of introduction is proving difficult to digest.

Regardless of the intention of the proposals, the timeframes and the resources being set
aside to implement changes are unrealistic at best.

The way in which these changes are being developed is also highly problematic. It seems to
be being driven by a very small coterie of “preferred” advisors with a very narrow view of
what constitutes effective teaching practice in the 21st century.

During the last election campaign, National blithely stated that “the state of education in New
Zealand has been in decline for the last 30 years”. This conveniently glosses over the fact
that for two thirds of that period National has been the Government.

So why now and why the urgency? Whatever focus groups and research has been
undertaken around these policies seems to have avoided the talking to those directly
affected in delivering effective education and learning to our children, namely teachers and
parents.

Where has this sudden awareness of the flaws in our education system come from?
Without being too cynical, the top of mind response is “Election 2026 anyone?”
This is playing out more and more like a campaign aimed at a selected demographic within
the electorate using ramped up concerns which then offers slogan-based solutions focused
on those manufactured concerns.

We all know that these are challenging times in our communities. It’s not clear how those
challenges are going to be helped by adding stress to the education sector in this way.
Do parents really need additional stress worrying about how their children are being taught?
If there is any evidence of problems with mathematics in the community need we look further
than the interpretation of mathematics achievement being offered by the Government which
conflates problems with Year 4 onwards, which are based on known developmental and
learning stages, with a wholesale overhaul of the curriculum from new entrants onwards.
Unfortunately all we are left with is ‘feathers in our mouths’ in the form of headlines which
exaggerate issues and gloss over the likely effectiveness of the proposed solutions.
New Zealand is viewed by many overseas countries as a leader in innovation in education.
On what basis, other than possible political advantage, has ‘back to basics’ suddenly
become the way to prepare our children for the future?