NEXT Foundation : Rising to the Challenge, Stories from the Covid-19 Crisis

The latest edition of the NEXT Foundation's publication covers stories from the COVID-19 crisis, and in the education section mentions the response of the Manaiakalani Programme.

"Covid 19 turned Aotearoa New Zealand’s education system on its head. The race to online learning presented both challenges and opportunities for the education projects NEXT supports. Nicholas Moody reports on how each project adapted to the new normal...."

Read the full article on Manaiakalani: A switch to seamless learning here P3

The article quotes from interviews with several participants in the Manaiakalani team effort:

Robin Sutton, principal of Hornby High says

“We haven’t experienced some mad rush to ‘figure out how to do this stuff’, but rather we have been able to focus on the relational issues that are so important for our young people,” says Robin Sutton, principal of Christchurch’s Hornby High School which has been part of the Manaiakalani programme since 2015.

 “The stress and anxiety levels for staff are far lower than they might otherwise have been, because much of what we need to do is what Manaiakalani have been evolving for the past five years. While remote earning offers its share of challenges, it is not some barren desert that we need to start terraforming before we can make it habitable,” says Sutton.

Dorothy Burt, says children have been well prepared for the transition to online learning in lockdown. 

“We have numerous Māori and Pasifika families who are sending delightful photos in from home that show children with smiles on their faces learning with their teachers via distance learning,” she says. 

While having access to devices and internet service is important, their number one focus remains on “teachers and effective teaching practice”, regardless of whether they are in or out of lockdown. 

“The digital world is the world of our young people, but the key component is not a device, it is a teacher who knows how to teach and knows how to make connections with children and young people,” says Burt.

 “Teachers’ primary goal each day is making connections, so during lockdown we check in on children’s wellbeing using Google Meet from one to three times a day, making sure everyone is OK and keeping those student-teacher relationships going,” she says. Screen time is limited and physical activity is built into each day’s learning. “The kids are enjoying home learning. We are getting surprising numbers of children turning up to class with over 50% joining the video chats, even during the school holidays. And the cool thing we are discovering is that a lot of whānau are listening in too.”

Pat Snedden, Manaiakalani Education Trust says

“Our schools are now completely fit-for-purpose to operate in or out of school and we barely blink,” says Manaiakalani Education Trust chairman Pat Snedden.  “For the rest of New Zealand, this is a huge challenge. We are offering to help schools with their digital capability to get in that position. We are prepared to be of assistance and of service to the wider kaupapa because we all need to help each other contend with the Covid-19 crisis.” 

And from Frank Janssen, NEXT’s kaihautū representative

“All the learnings the Manaiakalani programme has made over the past 15 years are now bearing fruit. This is a complex and comprehensive programme that is measurably improving education outcomes for its students. There is a deep level of understanding about what works and it is unique for an initiative to have built up such a rich body of learning and knowledge over such a long time in New Zealand,” says Janssen.